Here are some thoughts on Lent
From Rev’d Gail Woodward
During Lent I hope that we can all take the time to:
Look at the life Jesus led and
Implement the lifestyle choices he recommended. We can do this by
Mastering the art of personal Bible study and prayer. Through these things, we will
Benefit from a deeper path of discipleship as we do so.
A father and child were having a day out in the countryside when they came to a river they needed to cross. The father led the way across, using some stepping-stones that formed a path in the river. Cautiously the child took his first steps and time and time again he slipped off the stones and splashed into the water. The father said: ‘just copy what I did’. The child realised his father had bent his knees and at the same time he had held his arms out for balance. The child Looked then Implemented the pattern he had seen. Once he had Mastered the art of successfully stepping from one stone to the other, he Benefited by gaining confidence in the task he was doing.
During the Spring a farmer went for a walk in the countryside. He noticed an abandoned eagle’s nest which still had two eggs in it. He took the eggs home and laid them in the warmth of one of his hen’s nests. In the warmth of the barn the eggs hatched, and the baby eagles grew up with the chickens. The two baby eagles pecked about the farmyard scrabbling for grain like the other chickens. One day they looked up into the sky and saw an eagle soaring above in the sky. Both baby eagles sighed and said: ‘if only we had been born an eagle’. During Lent we have the opportunity to Look at our faith in depth through the Lent Bible study groups. It doesn’t matter whether we have a church background or not, it is our choice to Implement Christian values within our lives. The eagles Mastered the art of survival within the farmyard just as we can survive within our given environment. However, to Benefit from being eagles they had to learn to fly and not just admire those who did. We need to soar like the eagle and let out faith grow as we Implement those values in our daily lives.
Rev’d Gail