It became the custom of the early church that before the Easter celebration there should be a forty-day season of spiritual preparation.

It is a space in time in which we are called to stop whatever we are doing, no matter how important it might be, and enter more intentionally into the disciplines of prayer, self-examination and repentance.

The real question of the Lenten season is: How will I find ways to strengthen my relationship with God, with all my heart?

This begs an even deeper question: Are there areas in my life where I have gotten away from God and what are the disciplines that will enable me to enrich my walk with God?

To begin, we might consider disciplines of abstinence that help us clear out the clutter of those things that distract us from God.

One liturgy refers to Lent as “this joyful season” because it is meant to lead us into the Church’s springtime, a time when out of the darkness of sin’s winter, a repentant, empowered people emerge.

I invite you to a disciplined journey “this joyful season.” Join me tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, in the sanctuary at 9am, noon, or 4pm for a self-directed service.

Then put the next five Tuesday early evenings (4:30-5:45), Lenten Vespers with Soup/Salad/Wine, on your calendars. We will gather in the Multi-purpose Room to view a brief teaching video filmed on local in the Holy Land. Then we will enjoy conversation about the teaching as we enjoy soup and salad. (A fuller description is found later in this issue of our e-News.)