Welcome to the Lenten season. This is one of my favorite times of year, as I'm sure I've mentioned before. (In fact, if you'd like to read what I've written about Lent in past years, you can click on the tag "Lent" way down on the sidebar.) I find the experience of observing this tradition--with its rich history and deep beauty--so incredibly moving every year. Or perhaps moving isn't quite the right adjective--stilling is more like it. It is almost as though the world jolts to a stop on Ash Wednesday, and we are given time to reflect, repent, and renew our devotion. I for one need that built into the calendar because I rarely can create that kind of space in my own life. And of course the community aspect of a religious holiday ("holy-day," remember?) matters too. We're all creating this space together, as a body, as a family.

My home church doesn't hold an Ash Wednesday service, so I went in search of one (which in this case means, "drove past a number of churches until I found one with a reader board advertising a service"). This year it ended up being the Mennonite church in town. One of the things I love about being a Christian is the sense of family that I feel in pretty much any Christian community. I can walk into any church and, social awkwardness aside, feel that these are my people, that I belong with them*. We are unified in purpose and hold our faith in common. I don't have to prove my worthiness to be there or compete with anyone for membership. I walk in, sit down, and immediately join in communal worship, repentance, and dedication with eighty people I have never met before. How utterly beautiful is that?




*I recognize that not everyone feels this, and I am sad for those whose experience with certain Christian communities has caused them to lose this feeling; however, it is truth, whether or not the behavior of others reflects it or we perceive it at a given moment.

Labels: Christian sub-culture, Lent

2 comments

That's a beautiful reminder. I'm sad too that it has lost some of its meaning in today's church.

By  Leanne, at 8:03 AM  

I love that you just went in search of a church on Ash Wednesday. You inspire me miss Devon. What are you giving up this year?

By  Darla, at 10:10 PM  

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