another 40 days

We are drawn away and drawn to return. These 40 days of Lent take on so many ways of reflection — depending on your age, depending on the year, depending on your energy, and most definitely depending on the buoyancy of your faith. We give up, we take on — we pray in the early light or late at night. Our intentions are good and our lives may need burdens of guilt lifted through a time of simplicity and an offering of forgiveness.

We are drawn away and drawn to return. The image of this young, desperate,  humbled  son on his knees before his loving father touches a deep place in all of us. After hiding in the dark  and feeling the fear of our own shadows,  we also experience that humility in a safe place where we are known and forgiven.

During these 40 days, we will experience  (as we always do) the intrigue of distractions and the call to refocus. May we remember to be gentle with ourselves as the God of all gentleness continues to stand near always ready to receive us into comfort and forgiveness.