Here we go, forty days of blogging.

Last year I decided to quit giving up things for Lent.  The idea was that the process of giving things up quickly became more about me than a time of reflection on the meaning and purpose of the actions of Jesus Christ.  It went so well that I have decided to not give something up again.  Instead I will write each day about how God has been making Himself know to me in these forty days of preparation.

In chapel yesterday I was awakened to the truth that I am not really awake.  As I sat in the pew it became clear that I was not fully present in the chapel.  Physically I was attending the service but mentally I was attending to the long list of ‘to dos’ that always accompanies the beginning of the semester: buying books, reading books, writing about the books I read.  For the few short moments that I was actually paying attention I heard over and over again WAKE UP!  I was reminded of Ephesians 5:14-17, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise form the dead, and Christ shall give you light.  Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”  There is so much here that it makes my head hurt but what I haven’t seen in myself as I have been sleepwalking through the last few weeks are 1. Light 2. Attention to how I walk 3. Good use of time 4. the will of the Lord.  None of these are small things to be lacking by the way.  I am anticipating the next 40 days will be a time of awakening for me.  I hope to be awakened to His glory, my faults; His grace, my needs; His love, my response.  This isn’t going to be a painless time but I am praying that the joy outweighs anything else in this season of Lent.

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