Preparing for Lent

February 9, 2012

In a place like Los Angeles where marking the seasons by the change in the weather can be difficult, the passage of the Christian seasons serves to remind us where we are in the story of God’s healing of creation. The passage of time from Advent to Christmas and from Epiphany to Lent and from Lent to Easter to Pentecost reminds us that God has been working—and is working still—to heal and restore all things through Jesus.

Lent is a 40-day season of personal reflection, confession of sin, and repentance which corresponds to Jesus’ forty days of temptation in the wilderness. It is a season of fasting…of saying “No” to things in our lives that distract us from more important things. If you’re like me you pack your life full of as many good things as you can. But the truth is we can only handle so much. I know I’m trying to do too much when I start to forget things, lose things, and miss appointments I’ve made.

Lent is a time in our Christian experience when it’s good to lay aside a few things and spend more specific time in prayer, Bible reading, and personal reflection. It’s a time for sacrifice. It is not very popular to talk about sacrifice in our world today. No one wants to make sacrifices. We just want more and more and more. But the truth is our planet cannot handle more. We cannot keep consuming more and expect our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to have anything left to enjoy. Life has limits and Lent is a season in which we reflect again on those appropriate limits and place our lives again within those limits, for the sake of joy. Lent is not a time to be miserable and unhappy, but to discover that there is an enjoyment of life that comes only when we respect life’s limitations.

I hope you will plan now to observe Lent with your church community in Hollywood. We will begin with our Ash Wednesday services on February 22 (more details in the announcement section of the bulletin). If you’ve never gone on this journey, you will certainly be challenged to grow in wonderful new ways. Think now about the kind of Lenten experience you want to have.

—RYAN

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