1st Sunday in Lent

There is an awesome place of worship here on base called The Chapel of Hope where I was able to attend services on Ash Wednesday and today. Some of the personnel in the congregation I knew and recognized from the trip here, others I did not know, but they are the physical manifestation of the Body of Christ for the remaining 50 weeks of my stay here. There are three options for Sunday worship, liturgical, contemporary, or Gospel, and I can’t say that I could expound sensibly on the differences between the three; I attended the liturgical at 0915, and due to the provision of God’s grace was able to partake in the sacrament of communion. What a blessing.

I was contemplating something meaningful that I could “give up” for Lent, and a cynical (“old nature”) voice worked hard at convincing me that I am already “missing” or “sacrificing” enough right now, thank you very much. Fortunately, I “know” enough church history and about some of the origins of the traditional and church calendars that I was able to ignore this voice. I “know” enough about my own selfishness, self-centeredness, and pride, to see through (or partly through) the “It’s all about me” or “I’m the center of the universe” argument. Of course, this “knowledge” is not mine, but God’s grace—for which I am so thankful. So I am “giving something up,” and though it isn’t much, in the big scheme of things, it is something that several times a day brings to mind the 40 days of preparation the Lord spent in the desert following his baptism and prior to the beginning of his official public ministry. I thank Him that HE was able to deny temptation and through the ministry of the Father and the Spirit take the hard road.

Semper Fi, Jon G.