Lent

When I was just a little kid, my friends (Roman Catholic) made a big deal about "lint." I, of course, thought they were talking about that stuff you find is your pockets or in your navel. The were always giving something for this "lint." They treated this season with a kind of reverence we didn't have at our church. In my later years, I've come to appreciate this 40 days before Easter when the days grow longer (Anglo-saxon, lenthening of days, or Lent)as a time of spiritual growth which calls us to take a good look at ourselves; our mortality, our failings and, in the light of these limits, turn to God in a new and healthy ways. Please join with us in this time of renewal.

With a Heart in the Middle

Though it's the shortest month, February was always an exciting time for my nuclear family. Both of my sisters were born in February; George Washington and Abe Lincoln were born in February. But what's really exciting is the heart in the middle, Valentine's Day, Named for a third century saint, it celebrates love. Love comes in many wrappings romantic love, friendship love, many times both. It's good to stop and quite intentionally tell people we love that we, in fact, love them. Love has other dimensions, though, such as compassion. Recent earthquakes in Haiti called the world's attention to a region which was already in desperate need of that attention. The advent of an earthquake makes an already untenable situation worse. So, let us "love with actions and in truth." During this month with a heart in the middle, let's have a heart