Last night, waiting for sleep to come, I was thinking about this Lenten season and how it could be different, more spiritual, more honest. All I could think of was the oft quoted declaration: “Lent is a journey.” That’s got something to do with the journey Jesus takes as he preaches and teaches and heals his way to Jerusalem. What other way is there for Lent to be more spiritual than to think of the time in these days as if you are traveling with Jesus. Then, indeed, Lent is a journey, but what kind of journey?
I finally did get to sleep only to be interrupted by weird dreams, dreams which turned eventually into being wide awake with all the symptoms of the flu…what followed is way too much information for this public column. Needless to say, I hope the way the night turned out is no indication of my journey this Lent.
As the music from our radio nudged me awake this morning, I remembered: Journey takes our feet a-walking; journey moves us; journey leads us to some destination; journey is the destination. Upright but steadying myself on the bedpost, I looked down from the window to the snow, snow melted and refrozen several times this week, and there were footprints frozen in the snow. Someone had trudged through the ice covered snow this way and that way--footsteps going back and forth, then over there and in no particular path. I couldn’t imagine what kind of journey this person was on. Looked like some of my Lenten journeys.
As sleep cleared from my eyes, I remembered: Those footprints tell the story of Pat’s (my wife) shared journey with the birds and squirrels who reside in our yard. She has five or six bird feeders. She even feeds choice corn to four squirrels. I still don’t get that. As a youth, my mom fed me squirrels. Yum!
This journey with these lovely and interesting little creatures is one of Pat’s great joys. Even harsh weather never keeps her from showing hospitality to the cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers, gold finches, et.al.
Will our footsteps during this Lenten time tell the story of our journey? I suppose the ultimate hope is that we will travel along in the footsteps of Jesus – from his journey from his baptism by John to 40 days in the desert, to the temple, to the garden in desperate prayer, to the hill called Golgotha, and ultimately to resurrection morning.
For sure, the footprints we leave behind will tell the story of our shared journey this Lent. May the journey bring us—each of you and all of us—closer to the One who gives us the journey in the first place.
Faithfully,
Pastor Hanberry
Pastor’s Pen...