Lent

The season of Lent is upon us. Lent names the 40 days that take us from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday. It is a solemn time, a time of prayerful introspection. It is a time of honesty and confession.

I acknowledge that we are all quick these days to find fault with others. Our world is in a dreadfully dire place. And there is surely plenty of blame to go around. But I wonder if we all could use some self-evaluation. What if we all searched within ourselves for any culpability that is within us? Maybe it is judgmentalism, maybe it is privilege, maybe it is perpetuating systems of injustice that just happen to work well for us.

Some people like to give something up for Lent, others take on a new practice. I encourage you to do something for this season. Maybe it is a commitment to personal responsibility. Maybe it is to make a change, not out in the world (there is a time and a place for that), but within us.

Last night at our Ash Wednesday service, I encouraged us to think about where we look for validation. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What greater treasure is there than validation? How might we give up the frantic search for validation from others (always thin and temporary) and seek our validation from God?

What will you do this Lent to make yourself just a little more honest, a little more loving?

Lenten blessings.

Scott

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