Lent
Dear friends,
Yesterday we were able to gather at Saint James Presbyterian Church, with folks from Cordata as well, and mark together the beginning of Lent. I am so thankful for Seth’s leadership in this service and the unity that we have as the PCUSA churches of Bellingham. What a joy.
So with strains of Mardi Gras behind us and the pancakes of Shrove Tuesday already digested, we are beginning a 40 day season of Lent. This Sunday we will put away our Alleluias in the service to mark the change of season. We will collect the Alleluias again on Easter, but until then, our worship is in a minor chord. I find it so important to do this. I love to hear a saxophone play in a jazz combo, but when the sax takes a short break, I appreciate it more when it enters back in. That is the idea here, as great as it is to worship God with Alleluias, it is also important to bow the head and humble the heart, to wear sack cloth and ashes.
Our church is seeking this Lent to make room in our days to read and reflect on the practices of Cultivation found in Susan Sanders Phillips book, The Cultivated Life.
I often find it more meaningful to read a book when I know a bit about the author. Kerrie and I had a chance to visit with Susan this week and you can hear that discussion at the FPC Podcast. Every Saturday of Lent there will be a new episode about the practice of the week. The first one (available this Saturday, February 25th) will give you a great feel for the depth that Susan has brought to this incredible book.
For the podcast we will feature the Scripture of the week and someone answering one of the questions. If you would like to be one of those readers, we will be recording this Sunday (February 26th) and we would love to have you join us. Please come to the FPC recording studio (3rd floor office in the left balcony) right after our service on Sunday.
We have a reading schedule to make it through this book. There will be printed copies of this bookmark in this Sunday's bulletin, or you can refer to it online:
I want to encourage you to not just read this book, but to savor it. To slowly enjoy it. This is not a sports drink that you gulp down, this is a decadent Bordeaux that you slowly sip and enjoy. Slow down as you read, relax, enjoy and digest the wisdom in these pages. To do that you may need to make some time in your schedule. Voila- this is Lent- I encourage you to abstain from something you do regularly- only for these 40 days- and use that time to enjoy this book.
As you read, you may discover thoughts or questions. Write them down. We are going to hold an all church Zoom with Susan on April 16th at 7pm. You can bring your questions to her on that day.
Lastly I will apologize to the Type A people. To finish this book in the 40 days that we have, I had to start really quickly, that means that right as we start, you are already behind. This is more like a quarter system than a semester and we are starting fast. We will be discussing chapters 2 and 3 on Sunday, so you have four days now to read the introduction and chapter 1.