Wow, it’s almost spring!

Wow, it’s almost spring! Well, at least on some days. March is a month of ups and downs. We can remember some March days with snow swirling and piling up, and some March days sitting out in the warm sun admiring the bright crocus blossoms, poking up after a long season of muted colors and frigid temperatures. Just to make us a little more bewildered, mankind has chosen to name March 1st the first day of meteorological spring; but, if you prefer, March 20 the first day of astronomical spring. Such confusion is probably quite appropriate, considering the wild swings and unpredictable kinds of weather that can occur this month.
March 2022 has started out on a disturbing note, with a tragic, frustrating and infuriating invasion by Russia into Ukraine, a sovereign nation. Although we, and many other nations, are doing what we can to help and to bring this to a halt, for most of us it is a time of helplessness and hurt. And so we are left with the one thing that promises to bring such desecration to a halt: pray. Perhaps the one thing we can do this Lenten season is, not give up anything, but take up more time in prayer and more time in God’s Word.
The season of Lent is a time intended to be spent in self-examination. A time when we draw the circle of admitting sin tight around ourselves, only incriminating our own self. It’s human nature, and, increasingly a characteristic of our society, to find someone else to blame or condemn or criticize. Probably the presence of lawyers encourages this, as it has since Biblical times. It’s a mindset that refuses to admit we might have had a hand in a bad decision or a bad action. Alas, as Paul wrote in Romans 2:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” [so that each of us has to say “I have sinned and fall short…”]. It’s Lent. For once, it’s all about me.
This appears to be going to be a difficult Lent. It is enough to despair about our own shortcomings. Discouraging noise beyond ourselves swirls around us. Hopefully, we’re nearing the end of an unnerving pandemic. The economic situation is not altogether reassuring, locally, nationally or worldwide. And now our attention is drawn to a horrendous battle.
We have nowhere else to turn. Only One can bring us safety, security and peace. Be in prayer. He will hear us. Virginia
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”…
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Come O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord Isaiah 2:3-5