Pastor’s Corner: Ready to Get Ready?

Are you ready to get ready?

I… might be. I might not. We’ll see.

As I confessed last December, I am not always ready when Christmas arrives. I may still be found browsing the store shelves long after wiser shoppers have the gifts wrapped and under the tree. Likewise, when Ash Wednesday dawns, I’m sometimes deliberating about my Lenten discipline – the “take-ons” and the “give-ups” both. In fact, I’ve been known to choose what I’m giving up for Lent some days into it, at least in part because things I’ve done or eaten in the first few days reduce the options from which to choose!

I can’t say I recommend that as a sound approach. I plan to do better this year, and make sure to shed full light on my hunger for the joys of Easter.

Preparation is not just an activity for Lent, though. It’s a basic practice of Christianity. Jesus’ story about the ten bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13) always brings me to a full halt. They were supposed to illuminate the entrance of the bridegroom with their lamps, but he was late. Five of them brought extra oil, and five of them did not. Those whose oil ran dry could not join the feast.

I wonder: which am I? Do I go out into the world with something in reserve, some extra energy or ideas or skills to meet the unexpected challenge? Or does the light I bear disguise a hollowness within, and will delay, or disappointment, or difficulty cause that glow to sputter out and die?

That calls for another kind of preparation, and we don’t get a break from it after Lent. It calls for prayer and worship that rejuvenates. It calls for active pursuit of new learnings and new skills. It calls for regular rest, so that body, mind, and spirit work their best.

Get ready for Easter, my friends. And be ready for the turns in the road that lie ahead.

Blessings,

Pastor Eric

Photo is by Eric Anderson. Used by permission of the Missionary Society of Connecticut.