Today is the first day of Lent, also known as Ash Wednesday. As we begin the season, I want to highlight a few opportunities for spiritual reflection, one of the hallmarks of the days between now and Easter. The first two involve the opportunities that I am offering.

I will be leading a group through This is Your Life: a Lenten Journey. This devotional and reflective experience, which begins today, invites us to visit our past and reflect on aspects of where we’ve been to help us fully know and appreciate who we are today. This self-introspection is essential in this season. It goes beyond merely looking at where we’ve fallen short and focusing on penitence alone. A more extensive process of self-discovery helps us remember that we are complex beings who aren’t “done yet,” who have much to be thankful for, and also recognize places where our lives need healing and reconciliation. The introduction to the first week is included below.

I have created a booklet for this group. It is designed to be used daily as a devotional of sorts.  Each day provides a brief passage of scripture, a question or two to be pondered, and a suggested prompt towards prayer. That can be the whole process for some, although we will take up the weekly themes each Wednesday in Lent beginning next week. We’ll gather at 1 pm for a simple lunch (available as early as 12:30) and conversation. People may come and go week to week as they are able. Printed copies of the booklet are available in the office. You can also download it HERE.

The other component I’m offering again this year is short daily prayers during Lent, most likely skipping Sundays. Technically, Sundays aren’t counted in the forty days of Lent after all! If you email me your cell number (tom@ccfssi.org), I can add you to the list. We begin today.  

I also want to highlight Lent Madness. We’ve talked about it before, and we’re going to be using it a bit more intentionally this year. Lent Madness is a light-hearted church-nerd version of March Madness; only instead of pitting college basketball teams against one another, each day holds a matchup between a pair of saints. Winners will later be pitted against others until only two remain. People read about each saint and then vote for who they like online. Some of you will remember our local saint, St. Anna Alexander, who won in 2018. We have promoted it with our families as a learning experience to celebrate saints, but it can be valuable for all.

We are also injecting a bit of fun with Lent Madness to raise money to benefit outreach and mission. For a $5 donation, you can fill out a Lent Madness bracket and try to predict who will win. Bragging rights will be yours if you fare the best, and if you end up with the most accurate bracket, or even get the correct winner chosen, you can decide where the money we raise goes.  If multiple people “win,” each winner will get a say. We’ll have brackets to fill out this Sunday, which means participants will already know the outcome of the first few matchups! You can pick up a Lent Madness Saintly Scorecard (which includes write-ups on each of the saints) in the bookstore, or follow online at www.lentmadness.org.

Please check the Christ Church Lenten brochure and our other announcements for details about other Lent offerings, which include The Rev. Dr. Bob Brown’s Sunday adult class, The Walk.  Parishioner Rand Siegel is again offering Be Still and Know That I am God, a contemplative group that meets most Thursdays in March and April. Also, we have an EC 101 class beginning this week, which is open to anyone who wants to learn or relearn about the Episcopal Church and our understanding of the faith. Contact Mother Becky right away if you’re going to be a part of that group.  (becky@ccfssi.org)

A lot is going on, and you need not partake of all. Just know that there are offerings available to aid you in your Lenten journey. We’re pleased to walk this road together as we take up our cross and follow our Lord towards his passion. I pray we will all find this a holy season full of blessings.

Tom+

This is your Life: a Lenten Journey

Week One:  In the Beginning - Childhood

This week we will return to our childhood.  For many of us, that means a return to innocence and memories that are among the most cherished among all the things we remember.  Much of who and what we are is shaped by our early years.  We often hear these years referred to as our formative years, and for a good reason.  Whether it’s Robert Fulghum writing about the life lessons of Kindergarten, or Sigmund Freud and his theories about the stages of development, we know well that we are formed early in life, even if we disagree on exactly how it happens.

We also know that birth order influences us, as do the relationships we have with friends and families. It’s not built into this week per se, but another aspect of our early years involves what was going on in the world when we were kids.  I remember listening to my grandparents reminisce about the Great Depression and World War II.  Those experiences early in life affected how they lived the rest of their lives.  Trauma can have a similar effect, too.  

For some of us, our childhoods were not like episodes of Leave it to Beaver or Little House on the Prairie.  Just as healthy relationships with parents, siblings, and friends can yield tremendous positive results throughout a lifetime, the opposite is also true.  Some of us had complicated relationships with our parents, who may have been abusive or struggled with addiction.  We may have lived through a nasty divorce in which we were entangled as kids.  Perhaps it is the death of a loved one or some other trauma inflicted upon us.  These, too, unfortunately, also echo throughout our lives. 

Most of us have made it to adulthood in relatively good shape.  Even if the image in the mirror suggests, otherwise, we often learn ways to relatively healthy emotionally and spiritually.  Not that every day is sunshine and roses, of course, but humans are incredibly adaptable and resilient, thanks be to God.  We absorb and process experiences constantly, filing the good alongside the bad, growing, and changing as we go.  We are still being formed, even now.  No matter how our childhood shapes us, it can be useful to consider where we’ve been, and recognize how those early years were and are formative.  Sometimes there are lessons we learned then that it is helpful to remember now. 

I learned childhood lessons about right and wrong, hard work, the importance of family, and the love of God, although in most cases, I didn’t know I was learning it at the time.  Sure, I had teachers giving me explicit lessons, and there were moments of discipline from my parents that got filed away, but so much of what I remember now represents experiences and moments that shaped me in ways I couldn’t fathom at the time.  As I look back, I see where the pieces connect with who I am today and what I value.  I can trace the ripples back across the water of my life and remember what it was that started things in motion.   In some cases, the reason I know they were formative experiences is because of how vivid the memory is and how many times I’ve revisited them.  

Our childhoods are filled with giants – people who stand tall, figuratively, and literally, from our childhood.  Perhaps we also remember the fears of childhood, not all of which have left us entirely.  Those early years contain treasure that no one can steal, although we can still pick it up and handle it before putting them back into secure and unique places we’ve created for them.  As we go back and visit our young selves this week, we should give thanks to God for these treasured memories, whether we consider them as such already or just rediscover them.  Our Lenten journey to discover ourselves is rooted in the places, and with the people, we will visit this week. It’s time to get started.  

To continue with This is Your Life: A Lenten Journey, click HERE or stop by the office for a copy of the booklet.