Ash Wednesday: the start of less and more

Images and more info: Conservapedia

Those who saved their braided palm cross from last year's Palm Sunday may burn it today, pulling the ashes across their foreheads in the shape of a cross. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

It's the beginning of Lent today. I'm still wresting with my disciplines. Two of them will be deprivations - one of a certain kind of media that I enjoy and the other a food that I crave. One will be a discipline of prayer.

I'm a long-term calendar entry/ incremental task-maker/ don't look ahead until you have to/ survivalist. I've never looked ahead 40 days at the beginning of Lent for Easter on the calendar. Today it hit me, in light of our going to Indonesia in June: "Easter is April 20. That's a long way off! I may never have the chance to watch the programs or eat the foods I'm giving up. It will take time to pray this way. Do I really want to do this?"

Well, the answer is...

no. I don't want to.

Why should I? Why not indulge and carry on with the things that provide pleasure and put off a spiritual chore?

This is why: Lent isn't about us or what we give up. It's about remembering what Christ gave up for us. The disciplines are only a picture and an identification with Jesus. We put aside a little in gratitude for the enormity of His sacrifices on our behalf.

Regardless of my lackluster enthusiasm this morning, I set my face toward the life and death of Jesus.

Why Lenten disciplines? Why this season of remembrance in our spiritual journey?

Because of gratitude. Thankful hearts. And the remembrance that God who gave everything for us is worthy of worship and all our devotion. "Serve God with all your heart, soul, body," Jesus said.

That's a challenge worth taking on in this small way. There may be no smudge on my forehead, but there's a cross engraved on my heart.

Read more:
Ash Wednesday — Joel 2:1-2,12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

*And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 ESV

*They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you. Jeremiah 1:19 ESV

*The chief priests and the scribes kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. Mark 11:18 ESV

Moravian Prayer: We depart from our daily routines to journey into the wilderness of Lent. Travel with us, Jesus. Lend us your courage, strength, and perseverance, that we might share your Easter victory. Amen.

Lent Day 1: Word wrapped in flesh

It's the first day of Lent, time to pick up words as a spiritual discipline. Sign up via email or Reader feed to get this year's blogs.

This morning I met with a gifted group of writers. Our critique group allows a half hour of discussion on each person's work. The variety of interests, stories, and vantages on life amazed me.

• Leona publishes blogs on revitalizing "the rest of life" for Boomers (target group: aged 55-65). 
• Lydia writes regular tea columns, devotionals, and has a wonderful book on grandparenting. 
• Barbara's writing goes around the world in her Journeys in Prayer (available by subscription).
• Donna asks questions about life and theology. 
• I'm thinking about compiling some of these blogs into a devotional series.

Our backgrounds include vocational ministry, music, home economics, prayer leadership, and other jobs.

From diverse backgrounds, we each love Jesus, the Word made flesh (John 1). We cherish words. And we're grateful that God chose to invest his creativity in writers like us.

How is God wrapping his words in your flesh? Which words do you speak to God? To others?

Read more:
*The Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. 1 Samuel 1:27

*My enemies cannot speak a truthful word. Their deepest desire is to destroy others. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with flattery.

O God, declare them guilty. Let them be caught in their own traps. Drive them away because of their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy. For you bless the godly, O LORD; you surround them with your shield of love. Psalm 5:9–12 NLT

*But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV

*Jesus said, "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

Moravian Prayer: On this holy Ash Wednesday, Christ Jesus, we pray that you will be with us as we enter this time of self-examination and repentance for all the ways in which we have failed to believe or act on our belief. Amen.

* 

Happy Ash Wednesday

The ugly smudges looked like dirt. "What's that on your forehead?" I asked a friend. We lived in Cambridge, UK, and were learning many religious traditions left behind by low church Protestants.

"It's Ash Wednesday," said Terrie. She explained that her family and she had gone to an early Mass where the priest had crossed their foreheads with ashes after burning last year's palm fronds. They'd wear the cross all day, at work or at rest. The ritual fascinated me.

Though Terrie's family did not evidence faith in Christ by holy living, they celebrated Christianity in a continuous round of traditional calendar events. How many of us will thoughtlessly do the same in the coming season of Lent that leads to Easter?

Most of us will barely reflect on Christ's sacrifice. We'll go to church or skip a Sunday when it's inconvenient to meet. We'll walk through the foyer to settle into a pew, clap along with worship while watching a band on stage, half-listen to a talk by a pastor, and walk out again without any life change. My heart's cry is, "Oh Lord, please don't let that be me this year! Let me remember your life of meekness and your endurance on the cross."

During these seven Lenten weeks, I'm asking God for the ability to surrender to him. While I could stay on my knees forever, repenting for things done and undone, I hear his call to focus on all the wonders of following Christ. How good God has been to humanity - and to me! His love encompasses us and his mercies never fail.

Today, I'm happy, utterly thankful for God's patience as I've muddled my way toward him. How has his grace and longsuffering kept you from harm?

Read more:

* You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. Psalm 116:8

*The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

*Joel 2:1-2,12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

*Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him. Matthew 14:29-31

Moravian Prayer: Creator of the universe, only you can deliver our souls from death. When we become overwhelmed with the activities of the world, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Lent Day 1: Ash Wednesday

Lent is here. 40 days of celebration, deprivation, or both. Depends on your viewpoint. I'm sitting in an airport, typing on a tablet rather than my speedy keyboard. Our ticket said that our 7:30 flight might fly out at 9. We were rebooked with another airline after the original one was delayed twice and then cancelled. The current plane was just been put into maintenance, so who knows. The attendant says the flight doesn't come in until later, so we will miss our connection.

Life is full of inconveniences. But for some who wear the cross of ashes on their foreheads today, any inconvenience would be more tolerable than their daily life of suffering. As did the Apostle Paul, they identify with the persecution and rejection of Christ. Many don't know each morning if they will be killed or punished that day for their faith in Jesus.

Listening to the demands of disgruntled passengers around us, I reflected on the difference between deprivation and inconvenience. We were sitting in a warm lounge, leather seats conforming to weary bodies. The hot cup of tea steamed beside me, and my stomach was full from a good meal at a Vietnamese restaurant earlier. This Ash Wednesday ushers in the Lenten season with more favor and abundance than we could ever earn. May God's blessings be with us all as we begin the journey of remembering the price paid for our salvation.

Read more:
*Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25-26 ESV

*O Lord, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Psalm 142:5 ESV

*In Christ Jesus we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Ephesians 3:12 NIV

Moravian Prayer: Loving Savior, we look to you when troubles arise, when our spirit grows faint. You, Lord, are our safe haven and our protector. Help us not to be discouraged when sufferings occur, but to come to you with freedom and confidence. Thank you for always being our strong support. Amen.

An observation made in the Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis: Screwtape outlines a fundamental deception:

"Men are not angered by mere misfortune but by misfortune conceived as injury. And the sense of injury depends on the feeling that a legitimate claim has been denied. The more claims on life, therefore, that your patient can be
induced to make, the more often he will feel injured and, as a result, ill-tempered. Now you will have noticed that nothing throws him into a passion so easily as to find a tract of time which he reckoned on having at his own disposal unexpectedly taken from him. It is the unexpected visitor (when he looked forward to a quiet evening), or the friend’s talkative wife (turning up when he looked forward to a tête-à-tête with the friend), that throw him out of gear. Now he is not yet so uncharitable or slothful that these small demands on his courtesy are in themselves too much for it. They anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen. 

"You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption ‘My time is my own’. Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to his employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to religious duties. But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright."