Seek

Building One Another - Vol. 12, No. 6
Dear Friend, You could think of the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter as something of a gloomy time, a time of “giving up” something, but I have always seen Lent as a time to take onsomething… to take on a fresh seeking of the Lord, to acknowledge that my spiritual life can feel run down just like everyday life and that I want to refresh my relationship with my Lord. For that reason, I have always found Lent to be a hopeful season.  Yes, it is a reflective time to consider the life of Jesus, however it is also a time to re-discover the passion and love our Lord has for us today. The very word Lent is a hopeful word. It comes from a Middle English word meaning springtime. We may not see spring yet, there is snow and ice everywhere, but spring is coming. Our God promised the Jews in Exile in Babylon, “When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me…” Jeremiah 29:13-14a.* Just as we know spring is on the way, so we know that when we seek, we will find the Lord. Be a seeker. Renew your own inner desire to know God more deeply and personally. Take on some specific spiritual discipline, some deliberate pattern by which you may seek the Lord during these few weeks of Lent.  For example, simply read a half-chapter a day of one of the four gospels and allow the ministry of Jesus to touch you personally. And/or keep a daily spiritual journal recording your own thoughts about your own experience of God and reflections about your Lord. May you seek and know more deeply the God who loves you this Lent.
With joy- E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2013 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV.
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