The minister writes… from our March 2024 newsletter
Dear friends,
Here we are in the season of Lent and our journey towards Easter has begun. Just as with any journey, the joy of arrival at the destination is enriched by the means of getting there. Many years ago, when I climbed Mount Snowdon with a friend, there was a real ‘Wow!’ about reaching the summit. The view at the top could only be glimpsed between the clouds that had come down out of nowhere but that took nothing away from our sense of achievement. The hard work of getting there and the encounters along the way were as important as the moment of touching the summit stone or receiving our certificates to prove we had made it.
So it is on our Lenten journey. It probably feels like a well-trodden one to you but therein lies the danger of thinking it doesn’t much matter. If we are not careful we can hear the familiar Lent readings: the temptation of Jesus, his overturning of the tables in the temple, his prediction of his death, his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his Passion, the Last Supper, his arrest and false trial and find ourselves at Good Friday and his crucifixion almost without noticing how we got there.
This year our Lent study is entitled ‘The Rest is Worship’ and it invites us to take time just to be with God. Not to rush about doing, but allow ourselves simply to rest in his presence. It explores ways we can help that happen, but you don’t have to be following the study to find your own way of making time for God. Be intentional about it. Be present in the moment and open to what is going on all around you. Don’t fill the precious space with words (not even spoken prayer!) but just invite God into the stillness and let him fill it.
One quote in the study book talks about ‘sacred rest’ and thinks about the origins of Sabbath, how it was a weekly day of rest and delight in God. These days, in our society and even in our church life, it seems the practice of Sabbath rest is seldom observed. But whilst that may have become normal for us, it is not what God intended or what he wants for us. So this Lent, do try to take that rest, find that time, and simply be. And let God enrich your Lenten journey.
With every blessing,
Sharon