Ready or not, we are upon the threshold of Lent. This is a season that is typically marked by themes of light and shadow, confession and repentance, frailty and humility. It is a season that reminds us of our finiteness as human beings. This is a season that invites and encourages us to dwell, for a time, with these themes that are not always comfortable but that can be deeply meaningful. The trouble with being on the threshold of Lent this year is that it feels like we’ve been living one big, perpetual Lent since the beginning of COVID-19! This pandemic has forced many, if not all of us, to dwell on our finiteness month after month after month. In light of that reality, how do we meet this new season of Lent? How can and will we enter in?
Our scripture passage today is the traditional passage for the first Sunday in Lent. We will spend time with Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism and his subsequent temptation in the wilderness. My hope is that we will find ways to acknowledge the challenges of this season, embrace ourselves and each other as beloved of God and find courage and strength to lean into the all too real wilderness places of our lives in order, by the grace of God, to begin moving through them.
Scripture passage: Mark 1:9-15
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