Lent 2023: Unfinished

The space between. The now and the not yet. We can probably all think of a host of experiences from our own lives in which we occupy the space between no longer and not yet. The space between no longer pre-pandemic life and not yet what will settle into post-pandemic life. The space between before and after a medical diagnosis, before and after living with a loss, before and after navigating a relationship change, a job change, a move. The

space between childhood and adulthood, young adulthood and midlife, midlife and the autumn

years. The space between yesterday and tomorrow, your comfort zone and uncharted territory. The space between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.

The church by its very nature, and we as people of faith, live our whole lives in the space between no longer and not yet. Cross-marked and Spirit-sealed, we dwell in the space between the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the final fulfillment of God’s hope-filled promises. Indeed, our congregation is in this in the space between leaving a building we owned and this uncharted territory where we don’t know where we are headed yet. In this space between, we dwell in the unfinished as unfinished people. 

One way that we can lean into and honor this space between no longer and not yet is to engage in spiritual practices that both invite us to be attentive to God’s present-tense call and nourish God’s relationship with us. This Lent, you are invited into the spiritual practice vocare, a practice designed to help you discover and embrace various ways that God calls you in everyday life so that even amid the not yet, you can more intentionally live life on purpose for the common good.

Beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 22 with a reminder of our shared, called, baptismal life and culminating on Easter Sunday with the call to practice resurrection, each week will add a new guiding word of the vocare practice and practical ways to engage vocare in your personal life, your circle of relationships, and your congregation. You won’t want to miss the chance to honor the space between no longer and not yet!