An Invitation

Welcome to the season of Lent, 40 days, give or take a few Sunday “feast” days.

These 40 days can be just like the 40 that came before, and the 40 that will follow...

or we can experience them differently. We can take the invitation to go into the wilderness where the elements are more intense, the familiar is stripped away, where we are confronted by our truer selves: our fears and longings, our hurts and petty dislikes – and by the strengths we forgot we possessed: resilience, courage, compassion, a wondering eye, an unexpected faith, a capacity for love.

This year our reflections focus on the spiritual practice of Sabbath-keeping. If you’re so inclined, we invite you try out this discipline of being unproductive one day out of seven. Counter-intuitive, counter-cultural, yes… but it works when we give ourselves over to it.

And if we manage to live into that invitation to step off the treadmills of our lives for one day a week, most of us will experience some Lenten “desert” time in new ways. You don’t have to leave home to go to the desert… sometimes you just have to unplug and open yourself to the silence and the feelings that come up when we’re not distracted 24/7.

And so we invite you to walk into wilderness this Lent. You will take this journey alone – and in the company of wonderful walking companions, some of whom you’ll know well, and others not at all. There will be times of silence, and times of conversation (a blog page is being set up for those who will enjoy discussing the day’s reflection). Some days you’ll wish you never came, and others you may wish that this journey never end.

Our hope is that you will be regular and intentional in taking on this discipline each day.

Start with five minutes (set a timer…) and maybe increase the time as Lent goes on.

We suggest you keep a notebook with this booklet, and write down insights or questions that come to you as you spend this quiet time each day. If the reflection leads you into prayer,

go with it. If God says something in your prayer, write it down.

In the Bible, the wilderness is always a place where people think they are lost, and come to find God present. It is our prayer that you will find God present in ever new and deeper ways as we walk this Lent together.

Your companions in the Way,

The Rev. Mark Lingle, St. Francis Church

The Rev. Kate Heichler, Church of Christ the Healer