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Across the Pastor’s Desk by Josh Enderson

Ash Wednesday ushered in the season of Lent. It is a day that centers on our human frailty, mortality and relationship with God and others. It’s a day to gather and reflect on these central aspects of our lives.

The service echoes with calls to repent, to fast and to share, culminating with the haunting phrase as the ashes are placed on your forehead:

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” It’s a reminder amid the flow of life that this earthly life isn’t permanent.

But for most of us, the March weather didn’t allow for worship. On a day that we were to gather to remember our mortality with dark ashes placed on our foreheads, our world was instead blanketed with a heavy covering of fresh, white snow.

In many ways, the stark and brown landscape before the storm would have been much more fitting for a start to our Lenten journey. It is somber and solemn and leads to the usual thoughts of stark reflection during a season of stark reflection.

And yet, there was a powerful reminder in that Ash Wednesday snowfall. For many, Lent is a time to take things away. It’s a time to deny yourself of something, so that you may grow deeper in your faith and relationship with God. For many this is a meaningful practice.

But for others, this isn’t always the best path. If you know me, you know I can get tied to my schedule and to clocks and punctuality. I’m already controlled in most things, so controlling one more thing isn’t a spiritual practice. It’s just another thing on the to-do list.

For people like me, adding something meaningful or deepening a spiritual practice is much more meaningful. For example, my practice this year is to watch for wonder, to be more aware of God’s presence all around me. For someone who can get glued to a watch or planner, this practice helps me see new things and look up and out at God’s wondrous work throughout my day, like in the beauty of sunlight on newly fallen snow.

What might be your Lenten practice this year? Is there something getting in the way of your relationship with God and others that needs to be removed? Is there something that you can add that deepens your awareness of God’s presence throughout the day? Is there a relationship with a friend or family member that needs some tending?

As we start this journey, where is God calling you to go this season?

Joshua Enderson is a pastor at Hayward and Trondhjem Lutheran churches.