It’s Lent.  How does Mount Zion know that it’s the Lenten season?  Is it the purple paraments?  Is it the Lenten devotionals we’ve received to read?  Is it that the cross in the sanctuary is turned to the crucifixion side?  Well, this all may be true and are valuable clues.   But the real manifestation that it is the season of Lent is that Pastor Dan has given up donuts…AGAIN!!  Why does he do this?  Why does anyone give up something for Lent? 

There are many Biblically rooted reasons, many practical reasons which spring from history (before recent advancements, foods that were stored away for winter began to look a little sparse and conservation was imperative) and early church traditions shaped this tradition of sacrifice.  For me, personally, I give something up for forty days because Jesus, in the wilderness, went without for forty days, but survived on the sparsest of existence.  Giving up donuts is a far cry from what Christ went through and yet, for me, it is a great reminder of what it means to battle temptation.  Do you know how difficult it is to pass up those sweet, delicious, delectable and tantalizing morsels of goodness as their sweet aroma wafts across the air each and every Sunday and for many days throughout the week?  To be tempted and to overcome that temptation, with the help of Christ and the Word of God, is one vehicle God can use to prepare each of us to experience the joy of resurrection on Easter morning.  And in so, I participate in this tradition because it really is something simple, but effective and powerful for me in my Lenten considerations.  It doesn’t work for everyone and you won’t burn in the eternal flames if you don’t, but I hope you are finding ways to allow for the Lord to prepare your heart for Easter and the new life that has come into our realm in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

May this month of March be a month in which we consider repentance and the turning our lives, our hopes, our desires, our perspectives and the center of our relationships back to seeking the Lord and His direction.  Turn and seek the Lord.  Some times I leave my home and half way to the church I realize I left my lunch, or even my glasses at home.  I don’t turn back because I have learned that I can make it through the day without them.   But there are something’s that I will turn back for, like my computer.  There are something’s that can’t be accomplished if you are lacking them.  In this Lenten season and in this month of March, may you repeatedly discover that you can’t leave home without Christ.  He is the One we all must turn back to carry with us if we are to accomplish living true life.  Return to the Lord and seek His presence and live.

May your Lenten process be fruitful and holy.

                                     In Christ’s love and service,      Pastor Dan

Contact Pastor Dan at: psyeyeon@aol.com