Growth
is HARD!
A Lenten Meditation
Every year I remind you that the word LENT
comes from the Old English word, "lencten" or "lengthen," meaning "Spring,"
when the hours of sunlight lengthen. Spring is the time to prepare for
the new life/growth that's coming because of the work done on the land
and through the seeds that are planted. This opens up all sorts of
possibilities for understanding the season of Lent AS WELL AS the day/season
of Easter. The two go together. Lent is the time of preparation;
Easter is the celebration of the new life/growth that comes in Christ and
his resurrection.
This doesn't always translate well from
the agrarian culture of the Bible to LA. Seasonal changes in California
are pretty much a non-event. I still remember Johnny Carson's famous
line from The Tonight Show when I was young (!): "Autumn is when the birds
change color and fall from the trees" (insert rim shot here). Most
of us just don't' understand real seasonal changes because we don't experience
them - unless we're involved in some sort of business that depends on the
seasons.
Having spent most of my ministry in
the Midwest, I picked up on the rhythms and cycles of life as I listened
to the farmers talking about their work. I don't want to say that
farmers are never happy, but... "Not enough snow!" "Too much snow!" "Not
enough water!" "Too much water!" "The ground is too hard/too wet/too dry."
They complain about the birds, the bugs, the heat, the moisture, the weather,
the deer that eat the crops, the prices of seed, the low prices at market,
the lack and quality of good helpers, bankers and their interest rates...
and some how they generally made it.
Most of all I remember the sense that it
was a hard life. One farmer quipped to me that he never needed to
go to Las Vegas because he gambled every day of his life in his work.
He never knew if all that he was doing would pan out or not. One bad growing
season, one dry season, one bad storm at just the wrong time, and they
were done. My respect for them rose significantly because of my time
there.
The season of Lent brings us into these
same cycles of struggle, complaining and growth. As hard as all the
rest of this can be, the growth part can actually be the most difficult.
Things won't be the same. Change will come. Perspectives and objectives
will change. It is a journey we continue on together.
To help us on our journey, our Lenten services
will be on the theme, "Watchers on the Hill." This Lenten series
looks at the events on Golgotha from the point of view of several of the
characters who watched the events of Good Friday. We are invited into their
world to see those events from their perspective.
Again, please join us for this part of
our Lenten journey, a journey towards growth and new life.
In Christ, Pastor Larry
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