The LINK: 3/24
Friends,
My prayers are with you as we begin this season of Lent. Lent is those 40 days where Jesus was in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry and its ul-timate end. In this season we focus on things like repentance and doing or being different in order to grow spiritually. This is a spiritual way of marking time and our calendars, so that we are in tune with the seasons of God, and not just our clocks and calendars. This kind of marking time is a spiritual practice.
Between now and Holy Week, we’re going to look at, hear about, and maybe even experiment with different kinds of spiritual practices. Maybe you’ve heard them called spiritual disciplines or exercises. These are different names for the same thing. It is a kind of effort, discipline, exercise, practice, training or whatever you’d like to call it in order to place ourselves before God. Sometimes there are inner practices, like silence or meditation on scripture. Sometimes there are more outward-looking practices like “giving something up”, or serving others in a new way.
Maybe these kinds of works and practices bring up a past tradition you were a part of, or it feels legalistic. I see these as life-giving practices not as things we have to do, or we must do, of even should do, but as ways that we get to do that are ultimately good for our spirits, and our connection to God. On Sundays, we’ll hear sermons on different practices and where they’re found in scripture, and on Wednesday evenings, we’ll go deeper or look at different practic-es. On Wednesdays we’d love you to join us for this time of study in community, with a meal at 5:30. All are welcome, and if you’re not available for the meal, we’d still love to have you join us from 6:00-7:00 as we look deeper into these practic-es.
In this time of repentance and reflection, if this feels like you, and you want to talk about these in a conversation, I’m here for you. Call the office, drop by, or let’s meet up for coffee, or a walk as the weather gets warmer. If you’d like to meet up, my email is adamo@congopres.org. I’m excited to hear from you.
Grace and peace to you in this Lenten season.