The Weekend Word: pstrmike

Lent at the Beginning of Week Five

It’s been a tough season for all, and has made Lent all the more challenging. My fast during Lenten season has been relatively light actually, I’m staying off facebook and what’s app. But for some reason or reasons, it has been more difficult than in previous years. It must be due to social distancing, as both those forms of media have become a regular part of my social contacts. There have been times that I feel like I should invest more in the people around me and less through social media. Now, both of those outlets have taken away.

I’m finding that I’m looking forward to each Sunday more so than in the past. As most of you know, Sunday is a free day, where we do not fast, but celebrate the coming resurrection. This coming Easter will most likely be met with a silence that resembles more of the tomb than a joyous resurrection celebration.

So what do I do with all this silence? Like many others, I’m doing a lot “catching up.”  I’m reading more, getting a head start on harvesting wood and clearing brush. And I’m trying to deepen my relationship with God.

Scrolling through Facebook this morning, I see all the plugs for different churches who are streaming their services live. I understand this (I’m recording on Saturday and posting on the website), but it felt like I was walking through a boardwalk and all the solicitors were sending me invites to tune in with them to listen to their current favorite. It amazes me how many people I know that are now attending yet another church. How many is that now in the last five years?  Nevermind…..  Hard to keep up with who attends where, these days I no longer even try. They strike me as people who either have not found, or do not know what they are looking for.

Rather than taking any of their invitations, I went for walk and talked to God. He speaks to all of us, and I’m using this time to further discipline myself of the difficult task of quieting my soul and truly listening. Perhaps one of the many benefits of Lent is to teach us to reassess our time, not using free Sundays to binge, but to develop the self-discipline of moderation. And being quiet enough to hear the still small voice.

Stay home, stay safe, stay healthy.