Dear friends,
In last month’s article for the magazine, I wrote about preparing for Lent. A slightly different way of preparing for Lent is to reflect on the journey of our own life and what our priorities are. The story below illustrates this.
A long time ago there was an emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he liked, then the emperor would give him the area of land that he had covered.
The horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much of the land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible.
It came to the point when he had covered a substantial area and was exhausted and dying. Then he asked himself, ‘why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area. Now I am dying and I only need a very small area to bury myself.’
Perhaps that is similar with our own journey of life. We can push every day to make money, to gain power and recognition. We can neglect time with our family, time to appreciate the surrounding beauty and the hobbies we love.
One day when we look back, we will realise that we don’t really need that much, but then we cannot turn back the time for what we have missed.
Lent is a good time to reflect on what our priorities are. During Lent, at church, we have several opportunities to help with those reflections. On-line there will be music, prayers and readings encouraging us to think more deeply about our life journeys. Our Lent course will be based on a film encouraging us to reflect on life’s circumstances and faith (Thursdays at 7.30pm) and Stations of the Cross reflections show us where the death and resurrection of Christ fit into our own lives (Saturdays 11.00-12.00). Lenten lunches allow us to share our fellowship together, an essential part of our life’s journey. (See church calendar).
The poem below can be used to start our thought processes.
Life is ……
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Lie is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realise it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is game, play it.
Life is costly, care for it.
Life is love, enjoy it.
Life is a mystery, know it.
Life is a promise, fulfil it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is tragedy, confront.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
Live life. Love Lent.
Every blessing,
Deborah
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 