Notes From The Apprentice’s Log Book

Marilyn Brown Oden writes, "Lent invites us to make a pilgrimage, and if we're open to the Spirit, it’s not a prescheduled trip but an open-ended journey . . . a process instead of a destination."

This is an honest, if not entirely satisfying explanation. We post-moderns appreciate journey and exploration rather than pat answers. But, every once in awhile, we also like to have things settled. Hey God, after all these years, can’t we have some stability, some answers that remain the same? Do we have to go on yet another journey? Can’t you just give us a firm place to land?

The journey of Lent gets to the very core of our being, to the essence of creation, to the heart of God. Karl Barth writes about God’s freedom exercised in the creation. Lent is a journey of understanding God’s freedom. Understanding that God has freely chosen to be with us. Understanding that God freely chose to risk a creation in which we humans have the freedom to be the best or the worst. Understanding that God freely chose relationship with humanity in the form of Jesus Christ. Understanding that God freely chose to lead us on the path to full humanity by means of Jesus’ teaching, life, and ministry among us. Understanding that God freely chose to risk the death of God's son, when humans found his teaching, life, and ministry too demanding. Understanding that, even after this, God freely chose to remain engaged with us through the presence of God’s Spirit. Understanding that, rather than resorting to revenge or control of humanity, God freely continues to allow us freedom to choose the best and to grow in God’s way. The journey of Lent is a way of understanding that we and God are on an open-ended journey together.

Blessings of grace and peace for the journey.