Stoking the Lenten Fire
I think we all can acknowledge that there’s a certain fatigue that comes over us all as we near the end of the Lenten season. Next week is Laetare Sunday, and I find that as soon as those pink vestments start coming out of storage, our collective motivation begins to wane.
I get that. Maybe you’re fatigued — I am, too. Maybe you’re doing well in your resolutions and devotions but you’re in danger of coasting. Or maybe, like many of us this year or in past years, you don’t feel that you have even really begun your Lenten journey.
Either way, chances are that the fire that was in your belly on Ash Wednesday is burning a bit low. All fires eventually do, once they consume whatever fuels them. So here we would do well to remember what fuels our Lenten fire.
Sometimes we make resolutions that have the appearance of being spiritual, but also have an earthly motive. We give up chocolate hoping to lose weight. We stop gossiping so our friends may like us more. There is nothing wrong with these sacrifices — just with their motivations.
As Moses removes his sandals to approach the burning bush, he sees that the fire burns brightly, strongly — but does not consume. It is propelled by something inexhaustible, something which is not of this world.
Is your Lenten fire fueled by God? Are you daily surrendering yourself to the same voice that boomed from the bush in Genesis — the voice that commanded the Israelites to do what seemed like the impossible?
— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS
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