We publish a Parish Magazine 4 times a year and in each Magazine there is a letter from the vicar or a member of the ministry team. Here is the Easter 2010 letter:
Dear Friends,
In the Christian calendar we've arrived again in Lent (Lent starts with Ash Wednesday on 17th February) - the liturgical season when we are called to examine our motives, our behaviour, our personal ambitions and even our worship! Maybe we could say that we've arrived again at the moment when we start to examine what competes for our attention in our lives. In other words, where our priorities lie.
Now all this sounds very stern and gloomy, but Lent needn't be a miserable season - in fact, it can be a purposeful and meaningful and, in that sense, an enlivening and clarifying time. We could even see it as a time to find space to breathe!
There is a story of foreign trekkers in Africa pressing onwards relentlessly on their journey, accompanied by native Africans acting as porters and guides. There came a point where the African stopped for an unscheduled break. In response to the rather irate question 'Why have you stopped?', the trekkers received the reply: 'We need time to let our souls catch up with our bodies.'
If Lent is the season when we examine the aspects of our lives which compete for our attention, then perhaps this is what Jesus did when he went into the desert. It seems that he used this time to give himself up to exclusive attention to God for 40 days in the wilderness, at the start of a new journey in his life. Certainly we know that whilst Jesus was there he was tested by the offers of food, power and the chance of performing a glamorous stunt. And maybe it's not that different for us - food or material things. But I think there's something else 'in our day and age' that can prevent or hinder our souls from catching up with our bodies. As the Africans on the journey said, we do need time to let our souls catch up, but we can't if we never have space to breathe - if we never have time to find our own desert.
I think we would all acknowledge that the pace of life has increased; that we can now get fast everything, and so many of us press forward relentlessly on our journeys. And no wonder when we're aided by fast food, fast cars, fast connections on the internet, even faster cycles on our washing machines. Result: more stress, more road accidents, nutritional deficiency in many, and more general dissatisfaction. And certainly we would all acknowledge that we don't live in a desert! I haven't seen one in Harpenden, and so perhaps we might be wondering how we can recreate our own in this Lenten season. Where is our desert to be? In our gardens perhaps, or in our churches? Perhaps in the peace of our homes even we could find a space to find some inner quiet - the kind that comes from listening to what is going on inside ourselves.
Perhaps, then, this Lent can be a positive time for us all. If we do wish to give something up, then maybe this could be a little space and time to find our own desert place and use it as a means of drawing closer to each other and to our God. This year Bishop Alan, our new Diocesan Bishop is asking us to take up the challenge…
As he visits the Deaneries during his first year he is exploring what it means to 'Go deeper into God'. He is eager to encourage every Christian and congregation to consider how we might deepen our faith and understanding. There are two resources which he hopes will help with this:
A Lent Course, based on the gospel readings set for each Sunday.
Challenge 2010: As well as the Lent course, the Diocese is launching an initiative called Challenge. They are asking as many people as possible to join us during Lent in 'Daring to live the words of Jesus'. The idea is to take a verse from the Gospel of Luke each day, seeking to learn it by heart and then praying that God will give us the chance to put them into action.
Read it, learn it, pray it, do it!
All in all there is plenty to take on board. Do not believe that Lent is a barren time. The churches may have less decoration and the music be more solemn, but Lent is a time for enrichment, helping each of us to celebrate Easter with a renewed faith. It is an old, but valuable saying "A good Lent leads to a good Easter". An indifferent Lent leads nowhere.
Wishing all dear friends a blessed Lent, and a Happy and Holy Easter when it comes!
Philippa Segrave-Pride
Philippa Segrave-Pride