I woke up this morning to another dusting of snow on the ground, which itself is still covered in a foot or more of snowpack from this long winter. But it was bright and sunny outside, so I grabbed a light jacket and headed out to the car to run a few errands. About five minutes into my drive I noticed that the temperature gauge on the dashboard indicated that it was 14º outside. My mind was telling me it was already Spring, but the cold and snow were clear signs that Winter was saying “not yet.”
The season of Lent is somewhat like that. We reach a point where we feel and sense that Easter has already arrived, and we are ready to resurrect the Alleluias and step right back into the common and comfortable rhythms and practices of life together. Yet Lent keeps telling us “not yet.” There’s work to be done, prayers to be said, hearts to be prepared so that we can welcome the Resurrected life in all its freedom and glory.
Perhaps more importantly, may we be able to discern God’s promise and call beyond the ambiguity and unsettled nature of this season, so that it is not a time to be endured, but a time which forms us into deeper community and a more committed faith.
Pax,
Pastor Scott