Saturday, March 31, 2012

Longer Days

In my junior year of college I decided to fast on Wednesdays during Lent. I fasted from sun-up to sundown, which is a fairly wimpy fast, but I am a fairly wimpy faster. I hoped that over the course of Lent I would become better at the spiritual discipline of fasting, but as Lent dragged on I noticed that waiting until sunset to eat dinner seemed harder and harder each week. One Wednesday close to Easter I got really discouraged. Why wasn’t I getting better at fasting? Of course then it dawned on me of course it was harder to make it to sunset… the days were getting longer! Nature was upping the challenge on me.

Lenten commitments or sacrifices aren’t just supposed to make us “good at” spiritual disciplines; they also make us more humble and reliant on God. Nowadays I give up meat for Lent, and I am frequently reminded of my need for grace as I am (for example) biting into an Italian B.M.T. sandwich at Subway because I have once again forgotten that I’m not eating meat. But this is the good news of grace, right? Grace shows up most noticeably in the moments where we remember that we are only human.

For most of us, it does get increasingly difficult to make time for God as Lent progresses because life gets a lot more hectic as we move through spring and into summer. Here at Pecometh our busy season will hit right after Easter, with Volunteer Day and Pecometh Day, and all of the guest groups that come in at the end of the school year. Part of our Lenten challenge is paying attention to how God is present here and now as we look forward to (and prepare for) that busy season of ministry. For many of you the challenge is making time for God as your semester becomes more and more demanding, or as little league season gears up, or as the church calendar gets more and more full. (Let’s say a prayer for our pastors and church leaders heading into Holy Week!) Thank goodness God will show up in the midst of all that busy-ness, and we just need to slow down just a little and keep our eyes open.

Today I went down to Riverside to take a couple pictures of Spring springing at Pecometh. Grass is coming up and there are little green leaves on the new willow tree. I thought I’d share a picture with you. I hope the familiar sight reminds you of the ways that grace is springing up in your life.

Originally posted on the Pecometh Blog.

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