The Lenten Season

Dear Pali Pres,

Often, we refer to the Lenten season as a journey—a journey towards the cross and, ultimately, resurrection. This journey officially began two days ago, on Ash Wednesday. That day marked the beginning of this holy 40-day period (not counting Sundays) in which we engage in humble reflection and prayer in preparation for Easter.

Much will be said in church about this spiritual journey in the coming weeks. Even so, sometimes it is best to hear from the artists and poets among us, and allow their beautiful and powerful words to lead us into deeper truth and understanding. It is with that hope that I share with us Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” as we begin our own Lenten season of growth and transformation.

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Matt