It's a hard time to be a human being in the world. But there's good news.
Tonight's Ash Wednesday service kicks off the season of Lent. These forty days (not including Sundays, if you're doing the math) have traditionally offered Christians the chance to prepare for Easter and connect with God by means of intentional, purposeful practices. For some of us, consciously choosing to add spiritual routines like prayer or generosity help us recenter in God's presence. For others, mindfully removing certain pleasures or habits makes us more conscious of our heart's deepest desire for God.
Lent is a particularly good time to try and examine things as they really are—in the world, in our relationships, in our own hearts—and to lift all that up to God, trusting that God longs to provide for us, to sustain us, and to forgive us. It's also a good time to consider what prevents us from experiencing abundant life in God, whatever it is that keeps us feeling stuck and small and alone, and to invite God's new life in those places.
To that end, I feel especially hopeful and curious about two layers of our church life together throughout Lent. The first is the new worship series that Rev. Alicia introduced on February 4, "You Are Invited." We'll explore questions about identity through the lens of relationship with Jesus. Who does Jesus say we are? Who does Jesus invite us to be in the world? What does it mean to live in relationship with Jesus?
The second is our Spring Adult Formation Series based on Mallory Wyckoff's book God Is. I'm becoming more and more convinced that A. W. Tozer was right when he wrote, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." Reading and discussing God Is together offers us the chance to explore "what comes into our minds when we think about God," and to enrich that picture with overlooked and uncommon images of God throughout Scripture and Christian history.
Together we'll interact with the book's ideas and images in a few different ways throughout Lent and into the spring. Take some time to check out this overview of the opportunities ahead. On Banquet and Belong Sundays, you can drop in on our discussion class in Leslie Hall, right after service. And if you're looking for deeper relationship with others and a chance to discuss further, sign up to join or facilitate a small group, starting March 10. And each Monday, check out the LaSalle feeds on Instagram and Facebook for a weekly reflection exercise.
It's a hard time to be a human being in the world—hard to know how to be a good neighbor to people experiencing intense suffering and violence around the world, hard to face the crises that surround us, hard to be whole and healthy and well. So you are invited: Invited into deeper relationship with the one who made you, and loves you, and calls you by name. Invited to connect with others here at LaSalle and to help make space for others to connect. Invited to enter this season of Lent together, examining things as they really are, and trusting that the end of this story is resurrection life. We are, all of us, invited with the same gentle welcome that Jesus has always offered: "Come and see."