2017 Belmont University Lenten Devotional GuideSample

Of course none of us are “pure and blameless” as suggested by Paul as he writes from prison to the Philippians. Both the Old Testament and New Testament are filled with stories populated with individuals who struggled mightily, and failed, often in small and large ways, to follow the call of God. In one of the readings for today, we hear of David’s selection by God acting through Samuel and we need only remind ourselves of David’s serious transgressions after he was chosen. Yet God sees beyond David’s past and into his future, knowing that future will contain more mistakes by David but also knowing that David will be a key link to our encounter with Jesus. The psalmist voices for us today a petition to God and a prayer of Lenten hope: “Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress. But I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’“

David Brooks in his recent book The Road to Character distinguishes between what he calls “résumé virtues” and “eulogy virtues.” His suggestion that we individually and as a community should increase our focus on the eulogy virtues that sit in the center of our humanness rings true for me as an invitation to a meaningful Lenten practice and reflective devotion. When Brooks states that “wisdom isn’t a body of information. It’s the moral quality of knowing what you don’t know and figuring out a way to handle your ignorance, uncertainty and limitation.” I am drawn back to my own need to acknowledge the source of all wisdom by saying with the psalmist, “I trust in you, Lord; You are my God.“ For Lent 2017, I feel invited to spend 40 days in the desert of my own ignorance and uncertainty. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words of inspiration add hope to my Lenten experience viewed through the lens of my limitations: “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

But why Lent once more in 2017? I have “done Lent” for many years since childhood. The answer I give myself is that Lent requires practice alongside reflection. The potter Warren McKenzie, quoted by Angela Duckworth in her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, notes, “The first 10,000 pots are difficult, and then it gets a little bit easier.” I need the yearly practice of Lent, challenging myself to “do small things” as best I can.
Lenten practice—even with 10,000 or more repetitions—won’t make us pure and blameless, but it can be a vessel for us to encounter the Christ in us and among us. We come to a richer understanding of our human condition—we have fallen and will fall again and again, but our God is with us throughout. As expressed in the person Jesus, God seems to ask of us that we walk our faith journey with everyone we can, especially when that faith calls us beyond people who look, think and act like us.

MIKE PINTER
Director of the Teaching Center