A Lenten Reflection by Craig Miller

March 23, 2022

When I was in confirmation at this church during the 1960’s, Rev. Erwin Koch stressed three things during Lent:

• Prayer to focus on our need for God’s forgiveness

• Giving up something as a reminder of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice

• Practicing charity by giving money or doing something good for others as a way to respond to God’s grace, generosity, and love for us

We were required to write a Lenten prayer each week during Lent. We also had to inform the entire confirmation class what we gave up during Lent, and how we practiced charity during Lent. This was a difficult task at that age, but it made us focus on the bigger picture of what Lent was all about.

To this day, the Lenten season causes me to recall the lessons learned during confirmation. We can all pray more often. We can all be less materialistic and self-indulgent. We can all be more charitable and helpful to others. And this makes the resurrection on Easter all the more significant in our lives.