post lenten reflections 1

this year i decided to do lent a little differently. part of the reason for that was because i didn't really think of anything to give up around lent time. another was that i wasn't theologically ready to do so. as i contemplated lent and what it means during lent, i thought about how necessary it is for followers of Christ to have the same attitude outside of the lenten season that they do during lent. part of lenten theology is giving up something that you have a lot, or think you can't live without, in order to think of Christ and his ultimate acts of self denial in going to the cross. Jesus utterly denied his will when he went to the cross. as a human being, he wanted life, not pain and suffering. thus, why he asked God for God's will, not his.

so, with that, monday i began a post-lenten journey. my goal is to make the way of the cross ever more evident in my daily life, not just forty days before easter. there are several things which i am attempting to give up this year. it will be a task which goes against my will, and that is my goal.

in these first few days of my journey, one of the biggest ideas which has been floating around my mind comes out of the book of philippians. there we see a verse which says do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility consider others above yourself. how utterly revolutionary of an idea! how many followers of Christ actually live this out? my guess is not many. i most certainly do not. however, i've tried to let this pass through my mind often in the last couple of days. i pray that it is not just often, but always.

the journey continues,

rjt

It isn't well with my soul

Suffering. It's a fact of life. Everyone will go through it at some point or another. The main reason we go through it is because we weren't created for death. God breathed his very life into us so that we could thus enjoy his creation. We weren't created for sorrow or tough times either. That wasn't God's intention when he created us.

Recently, there has been a lot of suffering going on in several of the facets of my life. This year, I've known several people who died from cancer. I also know several more people diagnosed with cancer. And I know several who have continued their journeys through cancer. One is a seven year old boy with a twin brother and two young sisters. Another is a twenty something lady. I also know of several friends who have recently lost their jobs.

This really hit home this lenten season when our seminary president's wife found out her cancer had returned. Our seminary community was devastated. Today our president preached his final chapel service at NTS as president for he and his wife will be moving to California to be near to family during this time of what will probably be her last days on earth. She was there today to listen to her husband preach. As we began to sing, I couldn't look over at her and at the same time sing the lyrics to a him proclaiming that was fine with my soul. Yet, at the same time I was deeply moved by it.

The reason was because she and her husband could sing those two hymns. They knew that whatever their lot, God had taught them to say, it is well with their soul.

In moments of pain and moments of sorrow, we aren't ever promised that things will be easy. Our lots in this journey through life can be down right miserable. But the fact is that we have a God who journeys with us through those moments of infirmity or destruction. I don't understand why, and I am still learning to say it is well with my soul. But today, I was moved by two people who can firmly say in the face of sorrow that it is well with their soul.