SEEKING IN LENT
SEEKING IN LENT
If you want to find something, it often begins by asking questions. When was the last time I had the item? When do I remember seeing it most recently? Could I have put it down somewhere? Could it have fallen out of my pocket?
Finding solutions to problems that may exist around us also begins with asking questions. Who knows something about this issue? What books might I read about it? What websites or videos might there be that talk about the issue? What is really happening? Who is being affected by it? What is the history or root causes of the problem?
When it comes to spiritual matters, questions are important as well. In the Book of Matthew chapter seven Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find. For everyone who searches finds, and everyone who asks receives, and for everyone who knocks the door will be opened.” If you don’t ask a question, then you can’t receive an answer. If you don’t knock, no one will know you are at the door. If you don’t take time to do some seeking, then chances are you probably won’t do too much finding.
For the season of Lent this year we will be using a devotional series from the Sanctified Art Creative Team. The series is based on questions arising from the Scripture readings each week. Some of the questions might be restorative like, “Can these bones live?” Some are more of a charge or a challenge like, “Who will you listen to?” and some are more hopeful like “How do we begin again?” By asking the questions we begin to discover the many things that the people in the Bible were seeking, things like clarity, connection, wonder, justice, and balance.
In the process of contemplating the Biblical narrative, we may be drawn into the spiritual practice of staying curious, open-minded, and humble. It is an invitation to do our own reflecting upon what is it that we are seeking, and to examine if that aligns with the vision of what God may be seeking for the world.
I hope you will join in exploring the Scriptures with us at Holy Trinity during the Lenten season at our gatherings for worship on Sundays and Wednesdays. By doing some seeking together you never know what we might find.
-Pastor Erik