Lent begins

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Lent is a very special season for me. I didn't grow up with it. In fact, I didn't pay attention to the word until I was working on my masters degree.

That season was difficult: our daughter was in full flair with rheumatoid arthritis. Our kids were in their teens and moving into adulthood. I taught music and volunteered to train small group leaders while leading a study group myself. W was away at work most of the time. So it was busy. And hard.

The days seemed to crawl but the years were flying by. I was exhausted, with no prayers of my own, So I sought refuge in the traditional prayers of the Church. I spent a semester praying the Catholic liturgy, then another with the Orthodox prayer book. Many days I knelt down and prayed Puritan prayers of petition and confession.

I discovered Lent, a pause in the Christian calendar. Lent meant 40 days of meditation on the life, suffering, and death of Jesus. With my heart broken and my spirit hanging on by a thread, I plunged into contemplation.

Yet I've never been religious about my practice of Lent.

By that, I mean it's not an obligation. I don't consider it appeasement or an appeal to God's mercy. It's not a righteous duty carried out to balance my sins. Jesus has already paid the price in full, so I live in his forgiveness and his righteousness.

Each year, I find my relationship with God has deepened. I feel his love and care pervading every part of my being. And I love him more. I want to please him.

So this year at Lent, I'm picking at my keyboard again, challenging myself to new understandings of who God is and why he wants a relationship with us. I want to be open to his goodness, his justice, and his unlimited imagination in saving the world.

Lenten Blog, Day 1: God beyond our Imagination 

Paul the apostle admits: The message of the cross seems foolish to those who are lost and dying. But it is God's power to us who are being saved. It is written [in Isaiah 29:14]: "I will destroy the wisdom of those who are wise. I will do away with the cleverness of those who think they are so smart."

Smart people scoff at the cross. They find it folly and an offense to human reason. Why would God come among us? And why grow up in an obscure village in the middle of the Roman Empire? Why would he allow with religious leaders to question and defame him. Why would he be killed in a brutal way, with his followers abandoning him in his time of need?

I don't know. What I do know is that God understands all the parts of human life because of it. 

God's plans are enough for me - and for you as we live in that mystery. I don't have to understand what He's doing or how he lays out the future. He doesn't answer to me.

So Lent begins. I start the annual journey of blogging about my faith and confidence in God's provision. I don't understand it. Don't grasp it fully. But I believe what God says is true and that my faith shapes how I live as a follower of Jesus. (unknown source for images)

Still Wednesday. After 4 meetings, the morning is almost gone. I pray, write, and wonder what to cook for lunch. Turns out that leftover tacos are a perfect choice. W goes to an afternoon men's group. Titik's flowers continue to open as I work from home.

Thursday

There's no hike scheduled so we loop around the neighborhood for 3.5 miles (5 km). I step into the uneven side of the road to exercise ankles, knees, and hips the way a hike does. Nah, it's not the same.

W captures a beetle on the street in exquisite detail.

How wonderfully the world has been made.

Even the smallest things are crafted so meticulously that Jesus said, "King Solomon in his splendid robes wasn't dressed as well as the grass of the field that is here today and gone tomorrow."

In contrast, the manmade flower boards don't seem to be fading. I take a closer look: ah, the florets are made of sponge foam and will be part of the garbage dump soon.

Many continue to "bloom" in front of the residence of the new assistant governor.

We haven't been to #NaraPark for over a month. It's well-maintained, with a young man "sweeping" every leaf from the lawn as we eat breakfast. I'm craving their spicy noodles.

What are the little green heads on the plants along the terrace?

A closer look reveals tiny flowers, almost invisible until you stop to see.

Building has resumed on the community center used for preschool medical care. The upstairs wall has been framed atop the old first floor. Every few months, an influx of energy (or money?) brings progress to the project, which has been going for over a year.

I reply to texts and emails, make calls, and take notes from Blinkist book summaries. They have some recent additions on leadership and caring for others.

How about sauerkraut for lunch today? It's rather fun to cook "old-home" recipes that are on autopilot from another life. To a homemade base from Hela, we add potatoes, sausage, and seasonings. As the sauerkraut bakes, smells from the toaster oven remind us of a German household. Meanwhile, the helpers use the main ovens for cookies.

Reflecting on the beginning of John's gospel, I'm filled with wonder again.

Lenten Blog, Day 2: The startling appearance of God

Dinner is a new recipe: butter rice and mushroom saté, with an apple on the side. We watch a movie this month instead of reading a book for the book club. The movie is called The Life of a Gaucho. (Wrong movie, I discover at the Friday book group.)

Friday

Walk. The fig tree is starting to droop with fruit again.

I make crepes for breakfast. Then edits! What a privilege to read what others research, learning from their work. First up is a seminar on healthy relationships and building trust in the workplace. I pause occasionally to "visit" the room photo on my desktop and rest my eyes on the green garden.

I check the progress of a dissertation and write a Lenten post about John the Baptist.

Lenten Day 3: The surprising messenger

We eat lunch before W and I pick up basics at the grocer. Varieties of dates are on display: those are eaten at the end of the day to break the Muslim fast.

PakG loads the dogs in the car and takes them for a walk while the Bandung Book Group meets for a lively discussion of a Hallmark movie: Journey from 1995. The cafe staff won't open shop until 3:00 though the women just want to order coffee. By the time they are served, I have to leave - with my thermos of tea intact. (It would have been rude to drink while they were waiting.)

We have fresh-baked mayo biscuits for supper. So easy, so good! (Stir together 1 c milk, 2 c flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 4 tbsp mayonnaise; bake in greased cupcake tin @350o for 15 min.) While the biscuits bake, I sauté mushrooms with onions and spices. Yum.

By the time we clean up, it's night. The rain falls in force, with lightning flashing and thunder rumbling over the mountains for hours.

"This rainy season is lasting longer than usual," we said about the same time last year.

Read more:

*Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me. Isaiah 46:9

*“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” said the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8

Moravian Prayer: Eternal God, as we mark the beginning of our global church, we know that our faith history is but a moment in your creation. Yet you give us each these moments to blossom and live abundant lives. Let it be so! Amen.