March 2025
Beloved!
We are entering the month of March, which again this year brings us the Christian season of Lent. Lent has many different connotations for everybody. I have always appreciated Lent and not because I believe in all the ways in which we have to be miserable that we sometimes associate with this season. I believe that Lent in its origin is a season of spiritually deepening. And so this year, the theme for Lent for us is “Spiritually Rooted.” I want to ask these five Sundays of Lent, “what do I have in my tradition, that can help me ground and can help me settle, and root me spiritually deep into the ground?”
Because beloved, we are entering into a time in which we need to be building our resilience. We are in a hard situation in our country. No matter where you are politically, nobody can deny that this is a very difficult time for us to be operating in. There is increasing violence coming at us from all sides. The social atmosphere that we live in is is one filled with strife, even hatred. There are many people in our country, in our neighborhoods, in our families who are terrified.
This is not going to be a season of our lives that is going to be over in a few weeks or a few months. We have to buckle up for the long haul. And to do that, we need deep spiritual roots. I hope you will come and join me and strike those roots more deeply where we need to. This is a joint effort.
I will offer what I have to you. Trust me when I say that I need you wholeheartedly engaged, because this cannot be an individual effort. This is a collective effort for us as a church. So let us come together, root ourselves into the spiritual grounds that we know. Let’s be ready to live as followers of Christ even in these times. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Pastor Niels