Ash Wednesday Eve could be today’s Name and that name carries a whole different connotation, doesn’t it?! AWE points us already toward contemplation, humility, repentance. But, Fat Tuesday sounds like a party! It is. But, what kind of party? Fat Tuesday is traditionally the day that those who will be limiting, if not eliminating, meat and fatty foods from their diet during the Lenten season “clean out” the cupboard and the ‘fridge. AWE (Ash Wednesday Eve) can be a party, too, though. Surely not as raucous as a Mardi Gras parade, yet we can dance our way into the wilderness of Lent even a bit early.
My prayer, our prayer for YOU is that this Lenten season brings YOU God’s peace that passes all understanding, instills in you a confidence in the wideness of God’s love for YOU, and convinces you of the divine power that lives in YOU by faith in Jesus! We will be offering many opportunities to get still with God and gather with God’s people throughout these 40 (+) days … ways that will introduce and invite you to receive peace and love and power. We hope you’ll join us.
It’s not lost of me that this alternate name is a pretty good name for the intent of the season – being in AWE of God. For those of you looking for a trail guide to help you spend holy wilderness time with God and in God, let me suggest these resources to get you started:
- The podcast, Doing the Best We Can with Edie Kaufholz.
- The book, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton
- The (old) song, “Hold Me,” by Jamie Grace
- Gathering with others whose heart is for Jesus and you all want to grow (This can happen anywhere, anyhow!)
I believe that approaching Fat Tuesday like we’re walking the gangplank is to mistake what the wilderness season of Lent can be for us. Why can’t we dance our way into the wilderness? Why won’t we be willing to learn that it is outside of God’s character to leave us to our own devices, to give up on us, to hold our rebellion against us when our heart(s) long for belonging to God? I intend to dance my way into the wilderness, opening myself to Awe of God because I trust that the transformation that will happen is God’s holy best for me, for us. You with me?
The name “Lent” comes from an Old English word that means “to lengthen.” The Lenten season happens during the time of the year when the day is obviously beginning to lengthen (which means the night is beginning to shorten!). Traditionally, this has been the season that new converts to the Way of Jesus have prepared themselves for professing their faith and to be baptized – a dying to self and rising with and in Christ. And, whew, is that a lengthening … trading life on our own for eternal life in Him! For those already living a life of faith in Christ, Lent has traditionally included the following rule of life: pray, fast, and give.
That’s where my Lenten wilderness dancing will begin. In prayer – conversation with God, allowing as much, if not more room for listening than talking. In fasting – setting aside my own comfort (from things like candy, or gossip, or hitting the snooze … again) and seeking in the places of those things the comforting Presence of God. And, in giving – my time, my energy, my resources to brothers and sisters who don’t have what I have. And sharing in agape love. You with me?
I – and many others with Cook’s UMC – will begin our wilderness journey in Awe of God on Wednesday by taking a mark that identifies whose we are and where we are beginning this new season. The ashes of last year’s Palm Sunday party imposed in the sign of the cross will declare from foreheads and tender hearts that God chooses us and we choose God. We receive God’s grace and mercy unto new and abundant life, and by the power of God’s own Spirit within, learn to dance in Awe and Joy! You with us?
