A Lenten Reflection by Alison Seburg

February 28, 2023

In my childhood, Lent meant 7 weeks of the mystery & beauty of seven Wednesday evening candlelit liturgical services added to our family’s otherwise dull routine. The lights were dimmed each week during the pastor’s sermons to help people focus on the pulpit - the only other illumination being the flickering altar candles until the closing hymn when the house lights came back. As a sleepy toddler, I was allowed to stretch out on the pew bench and doze during the sermon. I loved those special moments in the quiet sanctuary with its soaring ceiling, huge windows (now dark) and the somber solemnity and ritual. So to me, Lent — with its looming dramatic shadows of Jesus’ cross — primarily meant adding extra worship rather than sacrificially giving up something.

As the spouse of a UCC minister (Paul led thirty plus years of Lenten Wednesday night services)— I looked forward to the creative joint “prayer services” with small -town neighbors and suburban friends from other faith traditions. Some Wednesdays were hymn sings, some Lenten dramas, some involved Lenten walks, some centered on Stations of the Cross, others had various themes, soloists, sacred music, speakers and locations. What a rich mosaic Lent became for me - still beautiful in its melancholy, but actually fun in the fellowship with so many other people, and primarily BUSY.

Now Lent to me is a time of contemplation. UCC Pastor Elisabeth Baer writes that we “receive ashes on our forehead to remind us our earthly life comes to an end, and the day of reckoning will inevitably come when we encounter God face to face. How will that be for us, we ponder. Will it be as if we and God are friends or strangers? None of us know the timing of our end on earth… Our hope as Christians is to enter that heavenly realm into eternal life with God.”

So this Lent I am contemplating my mortality: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” I have been asking some questions prompted by Pastor Eli’jah asking me to write this reflection. Do I need a heart change? Am I experiencing the power of Jesus’ resurrection? Am I holding any grudges against someone? Do I have unprocessed anger? With whom do I need to be reconciled? What acts of service can I do as my “sacrifice” for Lent?

If my spiritual muscles get stronger (surely they are as flabby as my post-Covid physical muscles), I may be prompted to give up a favorite food or activity for Lent. In the meantime, I decided to do a special act of service every day - whether for a stranger, unknown person, or family member. I asked God to help me pray for a list of prominent politicians with whom I actively dislike and disagree… (that’s been pretty tough!) And we are doing daily prayers together in the mornings - as well as adding another set of prayers from an old Anglican prayer book I found in my mother-in-law’s things.

So God promises us that if we seek God with all our hearts we shall certainly find God. May God incline our hearts to kindness, mercy, right living, forgiving and bring a blessing to others! Blessings on your Lent!