- Here’s today’s “Wednesday Video-Blog.” Again, it’s only 90-seconds. Please feel free to share, and I’m open to any ideas you may have – DEREK
oday is “Ash Wednesday,” but for the majority of years that I’ve identified myself as a “Jesus Follower,” today was just one more day on the calendar. Why? Because, like many Christians, I dismissed anything that smacked of ritualistic religion as – well – ritualistic religion.
But then, just a few years ago, I began to understand the value of what I now refer to as the “Sacred Rhythm” of the Christian calendar. There is a poetic and practical beauty in the observance of seasons such as Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time.
I have come to realize that the Protestant proclivity to eliminate traditional practices tends to produce 52-weeks of repeating essentially the same thing. Steering clear of tradition often makes a ritual out of non-ritual, avoids beauty and nuance, and places pride in “non-Catholicism” ahead of immersion into the sacred.
My personal response to this “epiphany” was to write a series of devotional thoughts that became the journal of my personal journey to The Cross. In turn, those reflections became my 2012 book,REACHING TOWARD EASTER.
So my Ash Wednesday thought today is a simple invitation to immerse ourselves in the idea of a Lenten journey. Wherever you are, make the effort to attend an Ash Wednesday worship experience today. Ours takes place at the First Presbyterian Church of Brandon, at 7:00.
“Still” from the video-blog
I’d also like to invite you to read Reaching Toward Easterover the next few weeks. It’s available at Amazon (also as a Kindle edition), as well as from the publisher, Upper Room Books.
Grace and Peace – DEREK
- Here’s today’s “Wednesday Video-Blog.” Again, it’s only 90-seconds. Please feel free to share, and I’m open to any ideas you may have – DEREK
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