As we begin our journey through the Lenten season, heading toward Holy Week and Easter, I find that this provides for us a wonderful opportunity for reflection.
With that in mind, I share with you words from Frederick Buechner, a theologian who encourages reflection and discernment.
"All his life long, wherever Jesus looked, he saw the world not in terms simply of its brokenness - a patchwork of light and dark calling forth in us now our light, now our dark - but in term of the ultimate mystery of God's presence buried in it like a treasure buried in a field ...
... To be whole, I believe, is to see the world like that. To see the world like that, as Jesus saw it, is to be whole. And sometimes I believe that even people like you and me see it like that ...
... Sometimes even in the midst of our confused and broken relationships with ourselves, with each other, with God, we catch glimpses of that holiness and wholeness that is not ours by a long shot and yet is part of who we are."
Yes, it is very easy to get discouraged, disillusioned, angry and even hopeless. All one has to do is to listen to the evening newscasts. Or read the newspapers. Or scan the internet news and highlights.
Whatever the reason, we are inundated with "the bad" of our culture, world, community, life in general. And sometimes, if you are like me, it threatens to overwhelm and take over my view of life and of faith.
However, what might happen if we were, like Buechner suggests, to look at our lives, our church community, our world, even other people as that in which God is present, that in which God is at work, that through which we might catch a glimpse of God AND that which is a "work-in-progress?"
During this Lenten time, take advantage of the opportunities God will provide to see God at work. We just might be surprised! And we just might be encouraged! Peace be with you!
Peace,
Pastor Dave
