Ash Wednesday 2010

As I write my blog this evening, I do so with a full tummy, as our Parish gathered tonight to celebrate Mardis Gras! Certainly not the with the same festiveness as was celebrated in New Orleans, but we had a wonderful time. In New Orleans every year, the world famous celebrations of Burbon Street carries on into the late hours of the night, but at midnight, the city stops, as Lent has begun.

The 40 days of preperation for Easter that we have now begun, are days that the church encourages us to increaase our prayer, to fast, and to give. That giving is expressed usually in alms, or monetary donations, but maybe there are other ways to give.

We can give of ourselves in so many different areas. Get involved in a community improvement organization. We can give more fully in our relationships. Lent is about change. Change in our hearts, and the change that Christ calls us to be a part of within our world.

This is my first Lent as an Ordained Person, and I realize that the key part of the life of a Clergyman is his parish. They are my first priority, and if anything I have learned so far in my ministry, that while it is my job to function as the leader in public worship, it is our job, as a community to grow together in our walk in the love of the Lord. We all do our part individually, and that effects a change in the bigger picture. If we all do our own part, we will see at Easter that an entire community has transformed itself to be closer to Christ, and more aware of His love.

As we all enter this season of Lent let's do so with an open heart, eager to see what direction the Lord will call us in.