Lent 2014: Feed This Lamb

On Fat Tuesday, especially in New Orleans, many people will let it all hang out, so to speak, and then tomorrow, they will begin a 40-day period of intense self-examination leading up to Easter. I have no experience with Mardi Gras, other than what I’ve seen in movies, news stories, and books, and what I’ve heard a few people talk about. For many years, I similarly ignored Lent. Now my life is different.

I grew up in a Southern Baptist church where Lent was not officially observed.  When I married, I joined a United Methodist church and learned something about it, but I wasn’t really paying attention until 1994, when I was swooped into the presence of the real and powerful God. Ever since then, Lent has been very important to me. March 24 is my 20^th birthday as a child of God, and that is one reason Lent has special meaning to me this year. I have returned to the Baptist faith, and each year, our pastor leads those of us who want to participate through 40 days of prayer, study, and sacrifice.

About three years ago, after a divorce, I wound up living with my elderly mother. She needs a great deal of help now, as she is almost 98 years old. She has a terrible time getting around—spends her time in a wheelchair—and is almost completely deaf; she suffers from senile dementia and congestive heart failure. She is angry sometimes that she cannot do things for herself. Sometimes she cries, and sometimes she is demanding. Sometimes, though, she seems like her old self. She has to have help doing everything. It is hard, and I am thankful to have some good help.

Yesterday, I was feeling bone-tired and a little impatient. I prayed that God would give me courage, patience, peace, and joy. Mother was sleeping. A quiet answer came slipping into my heart, a silent whisper hovering over her silver hair, saying, “This is my lamb. Feed this lamb.” My view of her changed, and my heart was pierced.

This afternoon, Mother looked in a mirror and made a face at herself. “I look awful,” she said.

I said, “No, I think you look like one of God’s lambs.” She laughed.

I think my sacrificial service during this Lenten period will be to study John 21:15-18, to begin with, and try to understand what Jesus means by sacrificial service as it applies to my life. I want to know what is deeply involved in that whispered “Feed this lamb.”

*I borrowed the picture of God's lamb from freefoto.com 

Signs of Spring

 I went outside this morning to put sunflower seeds in our bird feeder, and I noticed several things. The huge evergreen tree far out in our back yard is full of grackles, chuckling, whistling, and rattling happily—and loudly.  The little white baby’s breath flowers are blooming beside the driveway and around the edge of our patio. The hot pinks and reds of the japonica (pictured above) and the lavender red bud trees are bursting out. The lilac bush and the rose of Sharon have tiny leaves.

Hooray, spring is coming!! Every year, just about the time we believe winter is a permanent condition, it goes away. Spring is a time of hope, a time when my heart, accustomed to gray cold, peers out the window and sees joyful green.

It is the season of Lent, the 40-day period leading up to Easter. I believe God chose the perfect timing for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the ultimate symbol of hope and joy. But then, his timing is always perfect. Many people sacrifice something during Lent, to help their minds and spirits focus on Christ. This year, my sacrifice is to spend extra time in prayer, study, and writing about what it all means for my life.

Because of his death and resurrection, we have the hope of eternal life.  And also, because of his death and resurrection, we don’t to have to live in winter dreariness. Children usually accept his love much more readily than adults. We adults have had plenty of years to develop ideas about how undeserving we are and how impossible it is that God might love us. One of my uncles said, “God doesn’t like me. I’m too mean.” The thing is, we don’t have to deserve it; his love is a gift.

When we realize this and accept his unconditional love and forgiveness, we can live in the hope, joy, and peace of spring. We can learn to forgive other people who may have hurt us—and to forgive ourselves. Our hearts can rise out of heavy winter snowstorms and live in the light, warm springtime. Because of God’s love, we have this possibility of hope. We can throw open the doors and windows and let in the sweet scent of lilacs.

Note:

The picture of the japonica was borrowed from a gallery by Martin LaBar at www.flickr.com  

Visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/common_grackle/sounds to hear grackles’ sounds—especially the sound track called “calls of flock.” Many people think they are pests, but they are so joyful, I love them.

New Year's Resolutions--Thoughts

How am I doing with my New Year’s resolutions? Well….

First, I suppose we should examine those resolutions so we can have a little background information.  There were two of them. They were….

First, though, we should consider why people make New Year’s resolutions in the first place. That way, perhaps we will understand this situation a little better. We must admit that we all do it. This way, I will not feel alone.

I propose two main reasons people feel compelled to make resolutions at the beginning of new years.

1. People tend to examine their lives at the end of a year. Christmas has just happened—it’s a time of hurrying, buying and giving gifts, a time for expressing love, a season full of emotion and reflection. During the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, many people have gone back home, and school and work have started or will start again soon, in earnest. And we have done a great deal of sitting around and eating during the Christmas season. We don’t feel very good, physically. Emotionally, we are tired and ready for a change.

2. We feel hopeful when we see a beginning. Things can improve. What better time is there to transform ourselves, to make amends, to renovate our lives?

So. With these reasons in mind, we may now examine my two resolutions:

1. I would lose a little weight, exercise more, eat more sensibly. That might sound like several resolutions, but they are actually closely related, as I am sure we can all see.

2. I would become better organized, less halter-skelter, figure out how to control clutter.

I confess that I have not lost weight, although I have not gained any more, either. I exercise about the same amount and eat about the same way I did before Christmas. I have thought more about being organized, and I have worked on it a little bit. Things are about the same as they were.

On January 3, I wrote down in my journal some thoughts about my resolutions and how they would soon change my life. Then I thumbed through the next few days of the journal and made a discovery. On January 5, 2012, I wrote that in 2012, I would work very hard at losing a little weight, exercising, and organizing my life.