Take a Walk with Me, Will You?

 
Take a Walk with Me, Will You?

Well, it’s that time of year again. You know, that time when I look at the forty days ahead of me and I say to myself, “I can write a devotion every day. No problem.” Then, about 20-25 days into it, I say to myself, “Yikes! What have I gotten myself into?” 

Yes, it’s the Christian season of Lent, forty days of reflection, prayer, meditation leading up to the observance of Good Friday and the celebration of Easter. Here is an invitation to observe Lent taken from the Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):

Friends in Christ,

every year at the time of the Christian Passover

we celebrate our redemption

through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lent is a time to prepare for this celebration

and to renew our life in the paschal mystery.

We begin this holy season

by acknowledging our need for repentance,

and for the mercy and forgiveness

proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We begin our journey to Easter with the sign of ashes.

This ancient sign speaks of the frailty and uncertainty of human life,

and marks the penitence of this community.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of Christ,

to observe a holy Lent

by self-examination and penitence,

by prayer and fasting,

by works of love,

and by reading and meditating on the Word of God…

This year, like some years in the past, I plan to take extra time to meditate on Scripture and to write a reflection. Though the reflection really is something between God and me, I am happy to share it with you in this space.

A few weeks ago, I felt a tug simply to spend time with Jesus during Lent. And so I am going to spend the next forty days (not including Sundays) meditating on the life of Jesus as described for us in the Gospel According to Mark. I am going to imagine myself as a contemporary of the people of Jesus’ day. What must it have been like to see Jesus arrive on the scene, or to witness his miracles, or to see him confront people who distorted the ways of God, or to hear him teach? 

The basic theme of these reflections is, “Walking with Jesus,” because that is what I want to do – not only through the season of Lent, but through every day of every season of life: I want to walk with Jesus.

Consider this an invitation for you to take a walk with me through the pages of the Gospel According to Mark. I hope you will find this journey to be a fruitful one.

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