March 24, 2022 (Lent Week 3)

 

From The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones, illustrated by Jago (Zondervan 2007)


When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:3-4 (NIV)

I have spent my life learning, worshiping, and serving in churches, but the months I have now spent worshiping in an Anglican way with the St. Augustine's family continue to show me how much I do not know. It's a strange thing to feel a bit like an alien on Sunday mornings despite sitting in church as I have always done, but I have enjoyed learning the language and customs as I approach with a new sense of curiosity and wonder. I am thankful to my friends new and old for humoring me as I pepper them with questions like a four-year-old: "But why – why – why??"

In many cases, I am not learning a brand new language, but gaining a deeper and richer understanding of the one I already know. An example of this is the church calendar. I have of course known the words Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, but as I journey through the year with this new family, I have enriched my understanding of their meaning. As well, I have enjoyed learning the significance of the many special days sprinkled throughout the seasons.

Today's readings introduced me to another new occasion: Eve of the Annunciation. I learned that tomorrow, March 25th, is celebrated as the day that the angel Gabriel came to Mary with the news that she would bear the Son of God.

How disorienting! We are observing the season of Lent, with its sombreness and the knowledge of the grief and sorrow coming in a few short weeks on Good Friday, and we are suddenly interrupted by a flash of angelic light and an announcement of profound hope.

To me this is an apt metaphor for life. Sorrow and joy exist side by side; one can interrupt the other. In many ways I feel I am living in a season of lament, yet I am often surprised by a thrill of hope: the lengthening days, the kindness of new friends, the delighted squeals of a tiny friend seeing her birthday balloons one morning. Though weary, I rejoice, and I am reminded of our ultimate hope in Christ. As the psalmist writes, God is mindful of us and cares for us, even while carrying the entire universe in His hands, with its (and our) bright joys and deep sorrows alike.

I hope you will humor me as I share this song usually associated with Christmas. The line "a thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices" is relevant to me no matter the season. May we find hope in Christ even as we walk wearily through Lent.

- Sarah Viejou


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