Journey Into Lent 2020

Saturday, February 29, 2020 Reading: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made … then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.”  Genesis 3:1, 7a The Hebrew scriptures are full of wordplay, ambiguity, and multiple meanings, and here in the garden story of Genesis we see an interesting example: the serpent was  arum  – clever, sly or crafty, and Adam and Eve saw that they were  arum  – naked. Or did they indeed discover that they, like the serpent, were crafty? Or, crafty and naked? The  Berakhot Sanhedrin  says every word of Torah splits into 70 languages – as many interpretations as there are people. Imagine the challenge to the translator, especially considering that written biblical Hebrew has no vowels! So - what do you think? Are we naked or crafty? Open our hearts to your word, O God, and give us understanding. Amen Invite friends or ...

Friday, February 28, 2020 Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10 “See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2b) Procrastination takes a toll on our spirits and on our bodies. All the “should do" ‘s, all the “wish I could” ‘s pile up inside us like a cluttered room, hemming us in, hampering our movement, sapping our will. In the Chinese system of healing, procrastination actually causes illness, by barricading the free flow of energy to the organs.  Now , Paul writes.  Now . “ Now  is the acceptable time.”  Now  is the time for repentance.  Now  is the time for forgiveness.  Now  is the time for transformation.  Now  is the time for newness. Lent offers us an opportunity to stop procrastinating, both as individuals and as a community. Lent’s forty days bid us step onto the path to newness in Christ, reading scripture – now, connecting to God through prayer – now, doing acts of love – now. Now...

Thursday, February 27, 2020 Commemoration of John Wesley and Charles Wesley Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12 “Is this not the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke? … Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into your house?”                                                              (Isaiah 58:6a, 7a) Earlier this week, we took the palms from the previous Palm Sunday, burned them, mixed them with olive oil, and anointed ourselves with the humility and compassion of Christ. As Lent begins, we mark ourselves with a cross as people moving toward Easter. And, so that we can create an empty space where newness can...

Lent - Year of Matthew Friday-Tuesday –  shrovetide Have a party, make doughnuts (see recipe). Ash Wednesday, February 26, 2020 Noon and 7:00 pm: Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes Ash Wednesday Receive this cross of ash upon your brow, Brought from the burning of Palm Sunday's cross; The forests of the world are burning now And you make late repentance for the loss. But all the trees of God would clap their hands, The very stones themselves would shout and sing, If you could covenant to love these lands And recognize in Christ their lord and king. He sees the slow destruction of those trees, He weeps to see the ancient places burn, And still you make what purchases you please And still to dust and ashes you return. But hope could rise from ashes even now, Beginning with this sign upon your brow. Malcolm Guite  ( Sounding the Seasons,  p. 26 ) Is. 58:1-12; Ps.51:1-17; 2 Cor. 5:20b-6:10; Matt. 6:1-6, 16-21 "You desire tr...