Notes From Jon

I’ve been doing an “ambitious” series during Lent. I call it “ambitious,” because once my church folks caught on to where I was going, they might have decided to skip church during Lent.

The series is “Living With Death” – coming to terms with our own deaths, the deaths of those we love, and other things we typically don’t like to think about (but that are important to think about anyway). This is the second sermon in the series, on losing those we love and on comforting those who have experienced a loss. I was concerned to discuss some of the psycho-emotional aspects of the grief process, alongside our theology and how it makes a difference to people of faith. Read the rest of this entry »

Lent is on the way. It’s a season I look to with both excitement and dread. Excitement, because it is a very meaningful time of year to me. Dread, because I know that my habit is usually to give something up. I dread that because not only is it a hard thing to do, it’s something I usually end up giving in to at some point or another (I dread the guilt, in other words!).

And I must confess that I have a difficult time understanding the traditions behind Lent, as well – things like Mardi Gras and Fat/Shrove Tuesday, the idea that fasting only takes place on the weekdays, not eating meat and so on. These are things I’ve done a little research into, and I understand the basic idea and all… I just don’t think it makes the season any more meaningful to me. It’s probably a result of the tradition I grew up in, in which folks talked about things like Lent and Advent in the same hushed tones of voice that they used to talk about satanic rituals and cult gatherings.

Things have changed for me (fortunately). But while I understand Lent now and the penitence that many observe, I still confess to some ignorance of all the traditions surrounding it.

I remember in high school when some older friends of mine decided to “get saved” and join the church. At a lunch after worship on the Sunday they were baptized, they told us how they’d spent their Saturday night: They’d gone out drinking, smoking, having sex, and all kinds of other crazy things (or at least they told us they did, and judging from how I’d seen them act at other times, I didn’t find it hard to believe). Our youth leader was shocked and seemed sad. I remember simply being confused. At the time, it didn’t make sense. Now it does make sense, I’m sorry to say – too much sense.

This year, I’ve decided to “add on” instead of taking away. I’m going to get up on the weekdays and go over to the church early for prayer and devotion. I’ll do it at a time that will allow others to join me before they head to work or other tasks, and I hope some others will join me. This is something I don’t do regularly enough, I admit. I don’t know if it will be meaningful or not, but I certainly know it’ll do me more good than giving up chocolate.

But that’s me. If you’re reading this, how do YOU plan to observe Lent this year? Are you used to observing it at all? How does your church observe Lent?