Candice's Comments

Easter comes very early this year, March 27. Easter is preceded by Lent, a season traditionally focused on personal spiritual growth, whereas Easter has an emphasis on the growth of the church community in its capacity to show love and kindness to the wider world.

We will begin the Lenten season on February 10, Ash Wednesday. We will gather at 6:00 p.m. and share a meal together to signify the beginning of the season. A service of ashes will follow the meal.

In the ashes of Ash Wednesday, there are at least two symbolic elements.

· The fact that we are mortal and return to the earth at our death, and

· The fact that we are among those who wave palm branches one day

     and then, in effect, later burn them into ashes when we cannot sustain

     our commitment to the way of the cross.

The ashes we will use on February 10 are indeed the very palm branches that we waved on Palm Sunday last year. The focus of the Ash Wednesday service will be an acknowledge- ment that we are human and not God – that Lent is the journey into our own humanness as we move towards the cross of Jesus.

The focus on our personal spiritual journey through Lent strengthens and empowers us as Jesus’ followers to go out into the world to share the news of resurrection and new life in the Easter season.

Throughout the six Sundays of Lent, we will give and receive nourishment. Each Sunday we will bring healthy food items and money for the DMARC Food Pantry. The need is great with 10% of the Des Moines community using the services of the Food Pantry. While we traditionally associate the season of Lent with giving something up or fasting, the ritual of sharing food challenges us to celebrate the great abundance of God’s love and compassion that is present throughout our lives, even in difficult times.

Now is the time for us to “show up” and bear witness to Jesus’ teachings and the ways God’s love is present in our everyday lives.

Blessings,

Pastor Candice