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From Pastor Beth

I'm a relative latecomer to the Episcopal Church, not having joined until I was in my early 20s. I was drawn to the worship because it engages every part of me: mind, heart, and all the senses. We Episcopalians are a people of the church seasons, and we look to visual clues to remind us of where we are in the church calendar. Liturgical colors are among the indicators of the shift in the season of the church. Purple is the color for Lent at St. David's. Some places use burlap, which is called Lenten array. But more than the shift away from green to purple, we'll also be making more strongly visible changes this Lent. The brass and silver will be put away; pottery and glass will be used instead. Anything shiny or beautiful will be shelved until Easter. Because Lent is a time for going inward, the beautiful things which draw us outside of ourselves are downplayed. During the season, we'll integrate some longer periods of silence into our liturgy. Prayer C, which has a bit more emphasis on sin, is the Eucharistic prayer we will use. And the Prayers of the People, written by our bishop, evoke challenging themes of repentance and reflection.

I just spent a few days with some of my far flung family members. One of my nieces is a music teacher. Her son George, who is 7, is preparing to take his first music exams. This meant that even while on vacation, he had to practice his violin! This brought back memories of how much I hated having to practice (piano, viola, guita...all of them) when I was a kid. Yet now I wish that I had kept at it. If I had, I might now be able to play some of those instruments that I begrudgingly worked at when I was young! There is something to the old adage "practice makes perfect." And it is this very thing that the observance of Lent gets at. The more we work at a spiritual practice, the more real our spiritual journey becomes. The deeper we go in Lent, the more profound our experience of Easter is. The more seriously we observe Lent, the better we understand the meaning of Resurrection. The more time we spend reflecting and really delving into our spiritual lives, the more we learn about who we are, and who God is. Lent is the best season to begin "perfecting" our spiritual practice, because it is a season that is set up, in so many ways, to help us to both go inward and live our faith outwardly.

At St. David's, we are offering a lot of different ways to help make your Lent more meaningful: questions to reflect on, ways to serve, meditation booklets to take home, and opportunities for fellowship and community building. The season of Lent is one of the treasures of the Church year. Embrace it fully. You won't regret it.