When I hear or read the word Lent, it usually triggers childhood memories of being told that we were giving up sweets until Easter, because it was now Lent!
It was only when I discovered faith, as an adult, that I came to understand the meaning and importance of Lent and its significance within the Church calendar. While there are many approaches to observing Lent, and various topics which are often highlighted during this season, this series will take a different route.
Over the coming reflections, we will look together at three topics, for each letter of the word Lent. Beginning with Love, Life, Learn, then moving on to Everywhere, Explain, Expectation, followed by Now, New, Nations and ending with Time, Tenacity, Treasure.
Paul wrote the classic Bible passage on love, in his first letter to the Corinthians. In the Message version, of 1 Corinthians 13 4-8a, we read:
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.
- I would like to suggest that you begin this series by considering all the ways you have known God’s love. Recall all the people God has placed in your life who have been channels of God’s love to you, and be thankful.
- Move on now to reflecting on how you feel you are doing with love, at the moment, by recording your thoughts and reflections as you ponder on your current relationships and circumstances.
- Now lay your journal aside and read the above passage slowly three times (or you may chose to read it in another version, if you prefer) and choose a line or two to ponder and meditate on, turning your chosen line over and over in your mind and see what God would say to you through it.
- You may like to record these insights in your journal. Then turn the insights you receive into prayers and actions.