This week we begin Lent. This is a time of preparation for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus during Holy Week. Lent is a time of repentance. In the early church, Lent was a time of preparation for the baptism of new converts. It is a time to remember Jesus' sacrifice for us and to seek him more deeply to improve our lives. We examine our lives in the presence of the Holy Spirit as we examine our relationships with Christ, with others and in relation to our work of service through our vocations and other means. We fast and pray for ourselves and others. At this time many are fasting for Ukraine and for Russia, praying for peace. Others have found ways to reach out to serve in their communities as volunteers. Let us use this time to reflect on our own lives as disciples of Jesus in the world. Let us listen in a special way to the Spirit's leading us to a deeper love.
Each week you will find a reflection from one of our own pastors who are part of AETH. They will invite us to reflection and prayer. They represent different Christian traditions that are part of the AETH membership.
Run, run this way and run that way. Our mind is racing from the moment we wake up. It may be thinking about the next meeting we have that day or a conversation with one of our children or the many tasks for that day. We already have a feeling of lack of confidence, wanting to avoid or inadequacy about these matters and we haven't even dressed for the day. If we drive to work, we may pray while the driver next to us cuts us off or we may remind the children about different things in the car on the way to school. If we work from home we are rushing our coffee to our computer and as soon as we turn it on we are turning on the routines of the day. Where is the time for reflection, for prayer, for sitting down to simply know that God is with us, to recognize God's presence in what we are about to do?
It might be our intention to take time with God before we start our day. You could be a pastor, a church teacher. You can wear various hats to serve God and also put food on your table. God understands why we don't take the time, how there is this inner drive, this current that pulls us to run for the important things of the day. But in this Lenten season, the Spirit is inviting us to rest, to listen attentively, to give ourselves permission to be loved by Jesus.
4 "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit(E), for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out like a branch(F) and withers; and they gather them up, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 9 As the Father has loved Me,(J) so have I loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love(K), just as I have kept My Father's commandments(L) and abide in His love. 11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be perfect.
To abide is to dwell within the one who is the most high. It is to become part of God and to allow God to become part of us. When we do this we are able to bear fruit. The things around us drive us to success, but God dwells in us to enable us to bear fruit. Success is temporary while fruit remains because it has seeds that continue beyond our time, our presence, our permanence in a place. If you bear fruit, your influence in that place will outlast your presence there. Maybe you didn't see the results you would have wanted while you were there. But, years later, you will hear of changes, new projects that resemble what you shared or advocated for in vain. His seed bore fruit.
Staying is the way to be resilient, to not burn out. When things got busier, when it seemed impossible to take a break. Just when it was time to follow up and deal with the frenzy of followers, Jesus went off to pray. As Jesus' PR person, I would have been very frustrated and disappointed with him. "Jesus, you always disappear when we have that crescendo to the point where people make that clear commitment to your teaching, the pinnacle of your healings and greatness. I look around me and... You're not around. You kill the right moment." But, for Jesus, it was the time for discernment, for seeking God's direction, for subduing his ego, for gaining clarity, for replenishing the virtue that had sprung from him. It was his time to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, to abide. During this Lenten season, pause and have a moment of abiding so that you may be refreshed, so that your career may become fruitful.
March 3, 2022
Dr. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier Director, AETH