I decided my Lenten discipline this year was going to be to do something new and try blogging out. At first my plan was to blog everyday, or three times a week or something very routine and disciplined. Well, here we are a week (and some!) into Lent and I am just starting this new journey...so, this Lent not only am I going to blog, but also offer myself some grace! :)
So, this blog will have no "set" schedule... with the exception that I do plan to at least update it weekly with some random thoughts on the Lectionary Gospel text for the week in case any of the college students I minister to want a Lenten Devotional opportunity. And my hope is those same students will reflect upon the text and my random thoughts and respond to/challenge/question the post. Because let's be real, we all want to read more that just want is on my mind as I write.
A note about the title...this has been a humbling week to minister to young people. It has been a week that has caused me to ask more questions than to provide answers. How does one explain such a catastrophic disaster as the one in Japan? How does one explain why a young person lost his life so young? We can't. There are no answers, or theology textbook, or Biblical commentary that can make sense of such darkness. Instead, we journey together in the wilderness side by side seeking rest for our weary souls, nourishment for the journey, and glimpses of the promise of what is to come.
It is weeks and seasons like this that I cling to this very short verse from 1 Corinthians 13, "and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." When everything else is fleeting. When all else fails. These three gifts from God meet each of us in the wilderness. They bind us together, they nourish our hungry souls, and they spur us (and sometimes carry us) forward. They don't always make the darkness go away completely, they don't always bring easy answers (or any answers!), but they do remind us of whose we are and that we are not alone in the wilderness this season. Rather God is journeying with us.
So this week, on this very early Friday morning of Lent, when the world seems a little upside down I am reminded that faith, hope, and love remain. And for me, that is enough for today.
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