A Message from Pastor Paul
From darkness to light - Lent is often characterized and seen as such a journey, such a time. An old saying illustrates this, "seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."
When we lived out west, I would often take hikes along the old Milwaukee railroad right-of-way. Two memorable hikes involved walking through mile long tunnels, one over near the Idaho border and the other by Butte where the Milwaukee tunnel goes under the continental divide.
As you pass through extremely long tunnels such as these, the light from the portal you entered grows dimmer until it's almost not there, but then you see the portal at the other end. At first you only see a small dot of brightness far ahead. In the very center section you walk in almost complete darkness. You almost more feel your way along as opposed to seeing anything. But that tiny dot of daylight lies ahead, reassuring.
Lent, as well as so many other times in our lives, is like that. The darkness of hurt or pain, of sadness and disappointment can seem almost total. Yet with faith we know there is a light always shining ahead and, as we keep placing one foot ahead of the other, that light comes to embrace us.
In Lent, we acknowledge the sin that plagues our lives and redouble our effort to live in repentance always with the light of the Resurrected One and his forgiveness shining both behind and ahead of us.
In Lent, with faith, we can be assured we journey toward Easter.
"I am the light of the world," Jesus tells us, "they who follow me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life."
Easter Peace!
Pastor Paul
When we lived out west, I would often take hikes along the old Milwaukee railroad right-of-way. Two memorable hikes involved walking through mile long tunnels, one over near the Idaho border and the other by Butte where the Milwaukee tunnel goes under the continental divide.
As you pass through extremely long tunnels such as these, the light from the portal you entered grows dimmer until it's almost not there, but then you see the portal at the other end. At first you only see a small dot of brightness far ahead. In the very center section you walk in almost complete darkness. You almost more feel your way along as opposed to seeing anything. But that tiny dot of daylight lies ahead, reassuring.
Lent, as well as so many other times in our lives, is like that. The darkness of hurt or pain, of sadness and disappointment can seem almost total. Yet with faith we know there is a light always shining ahead and, as we keep placing one foot ahead of the other, that light comes to embrace us.
In Lent, we acknowledge the sin that plagues our lives and redouble our effort to live in repentance always with the light of the Resurrected One and his forgiveness shining both behind and ahead of us.
In Lent, with faith, we can be assured we journey toward Easter.
"I am the light of the world," Jesus tells us, "they who follow me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life."
Easter Peace!
Pastor Paul