Welcome to Lent!
So it begins! You might ask yourself, what are we giving up for Lent this year? When I served churches as a pastor, I usually gave up sleep for Lent!
But we are here together on this Lenten journey not to give something up (except, perhaps, sleep), but to take something on. Not to beat ourselves over the heads with guilt, but to embrace God’s promises of life over death, love over hate, and hope over despair. We are here on this Lenten journey to engage with lament and with hope for the sake of Creation and future generations, in the sure and certain knowledge that we do not do this work alone, and that life triumphs.
We are on this journey together to engage with the stories of our faith: to engage with the stories of lament, fear, despair, and rage. To engage with the stories of community, hope, and hard work.
The cry of Christ is in the cry of Creation. The betrayal and crucifixion of Christ is in the betrayal and devastation of Creation. The resurrection of Christ is witnessed through the surprising and grace-filled moments of healing, accountability, reparation, and flourishing of all life. In that spirit, I have written this collection of resources for Lent through the eyes and heart of Creation (which includes all of us).
The collection consists of readings and prayers that you can fit into your services as you see fit. There is one ritual that will take some advance preparation.
These resources are for your use for Ash Wednesday and all of Lent. Resources for Holy Week and Easter are coming soon!
A complete text of the resources may be found in this PDF document.