Now that we’ve turned the calendar to February, your pastor has started thinking about Lent. We still have three Sundays of Epiphany to go, but Ash Wednesday will be here before we know it, this year falling on Wednesday, February 22.
Lent, of course, is a time for self-examination and reflection. In this season, we are invited to go into the wilderness with Christ for a conversation about how we are doing. Despite what you may have heard, Lent is not so much a time to wallow in guilt about our many foibles and failures as it is an opportunity to listen to Christ about how we might grow and mature in our faith in the days ahead.
Every Lent, I like to try a new devotional to help me along in this journey. This year I have selected a new book by Pastor Rachel Srubas entitled The Desert of Compassion: Devotions for the Lenten Journey. A Benedictine oblate and Presbyterian minister, Rachel pastors a Presbyterian church in Tucson, Arizona. Her book was just published last month, so I have yet to read it. But I’ve heard good things about it from readers who received advance copies and my perusal of it this past week confirms that it seems a thoughtfully constructed devotional.
My proposal to you is that we read it together during Lent. The book is organized so that for each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday all the way to Holy Saturday, there is a short Scripture reading, a reflection, and a prayer. The book is only 170 pages, so it is to be lingered over rather than rushed through.
My thought is that after church on Sundays during Lent (roughly from 10:45 to 11:30 a.m.), those who are interested might join me for a discussion of each week’s entries as we make our way through the book. I have ordered a couple dozen copies from my local bookseller and I should have them in hand and available for purchase at church starting Sunday, February 12. I hope you will join me in this Lenten journey of reading, reflection and prayer. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.