Focusing During Lent as a Means of Survival

We are in the second week of Lent. Lent is a solemn Christian religious observance in preparation for Easter. According to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan. The purpose of Lent is to prepare believers for Easter through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Rev. Jen has talked about Lent as a time to focus ourselves. We can focus on fasting as Jesus did or we can focus on eating purposefully, slowly, thoughtfully, so as not to overindulge, but to eat for survival. We can focus on almsgiving so that we have a special time of the year set aside to give to charities and organizations that we want to support. This is helpful if you are like me and you have good intentions, but sometimes never get around to completing them. We can also focus our prayers. I have heard Lent called a period of grief that ends with a great celebration of Easter.

It’s the period of grief that I want to talk about. Lately I have had periods of feeling overwhelmed by things that are happening in the world. Things I cannot control. Scary things. Real things. I am frightened and grieving for our old way of life or a life less stressful, at least. I feel paralyzed. Focusing my prayer time has begun to help me with this. I have always had a prayer time, but I usually don’t use a daily devotional. Rev. Jen gave me one to try and I find it comforting. I want to focus my prayers so that I can be comforted, especially now, but also so that I can do something. I want to gain my momentum back and lose that feeling of being paralyzed. Lent is about survival. Using the daily devotional gives me the means to survive. During this season of Lent, I will give up certain foods and give to charities, but focusing my prayers is my path to not only remembering Christ’s time in the desert, but also learning a better way to survive our everyday lives. If your prayer time is all about loving God, confessing sins, asking forgiveness, and being thankful – wonderful. I have found that focusing on a daily devotional prayer, along with this, has added the comfort I need to live the life I believe Christ intended for me. I highly recommend it.

Karen Hirt Mannon, Senior Warden

Rev. Jen has set her office drop-in day as Wednesday of each week from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. for anyone who would like to stop in and visit. You are always invited to make an appointment for a time convenient for you. Mondays are her Sabbath day.

LENTEN SERIES

We have a range of services and gatherings for Lent, including Wednesday Lenten Series at 12:30 and 6:30 each Wednesday. Each week we will begin with a different form of the Stations of the Cross. We will then watch a 10 minute video from Rob Bell’s Nooma series and discuss prayer practices and concerns. Each meeting will be 45-60 minutes long. Use the on-line newsletter and a printed sheet outlining Lent and Holy Week to fill your calendar for this wonder and moving season. Click here for a full listing of all the Lent and Easter services being offered this year.

LENTEN CRAFTS

We will have materials available for you to decorate your own Paschal candle for your home. Materials will be available Sundays each week March 16 through April 6, so take your time and let the design evolve. If you’d like to make beautiful Ukrainian pysanky eggs for the Easter budding branches in the sanctuary or take home to enhance your home’s Easter egg tree, those materials will be set out Sundays from March 23 through April 6.

PARISH GAME NIGHT AND DINNER

Save the date for the upcoming Game Night and dinner in Hamilton Hall on Friday, March 14, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. Justin & Dana Glessner will be hosting and providing a dinner of chicken noodle soup. There will be lots of games. Hope to see you all there!

NEW PICTORAL DIRECTORY

Representatives from Universal Pictoral Directory will be at St. Andrew’s in Hamilton Hall on Tuesday, April 8, from 2:00 – 8:30 p.m. taking portraits of members for the new directory. Karen Hirt Mannon will be making appointments after church on Sundays so be sure to sign up.

PANTRY COALITON NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

The Pantry Coalition needs volunteers to help work 2 hour shifts at Kroger on Monday, April 14 from 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., and someone to pick up our part of the collection on Tuesday morning before 9:00 a.m. There are two volunteers at the front of the store passing out the wish lists and two at checkout, assisting the DePauw students and other members of the Coalition. At the end of the day, DePauw students sort and distribute the goods for the participating pantries and have them ready for pick-up the next morning. If you can help in any way, please contact Fred Vallowe.

TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY

The Book and Bible Group has begun again, meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays with Evening Prayer celebrated at 4:00 p.m.

WOMEN IN THE BIBLE SERIES

You are invited to join an eight-week “Women in the Bible” study. We will meet on Wednesday evenings from 7:00-8:30 p.m. from January 29 through March 26. The series is presented by Professor Sandie Gravett. Details are in Hamilton Hall; register by e-mail to kramer501@msn.com with “Women in the Bible Series” in the subject line.

ALTAR FLOWERS

We now have a poster in Hamilton Hall to sign up for altar flowers. You may donate funds to purchase altar flowers in celebration of a birthday, anniversary, special date, or to honor someone who has died. A donation amount is $30 is suggested. Please make checks payable to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and in the memo field please put this information: Altar Flowers, person’s name, occasion, Sunday date you’d like for the flowers to be on the altar. It is asked that you get this information to Renee well ahead of time. Thank you!

VESTRY MEETING MINUTES

If any of you are interested in what your Vestry is doing, there are two copies of each month’s minutes on the top of the piano in Hamilton Hall. Feel free to read and return!

THIS WEEK’S SHOPPING LIST FOR NON-FOOD PANTRY

Please add baby wipes, disinfectant wipes, and Adult Depends (any size) to your shopping list for the NFP for the month of March. Meals and conversation in Hamilton Hall are going well. Patrons are now able to pick out items they most need. Your contributions help our budget go farther in helping meet the needs of those in Putnam County. The next Non-Food Pantry will be Saturday, March 29 from noon – 2:00 p.m.

KROGER COUPONS

If you have any unwanted Kroger coupons, please bring them to Hamilton Hall and place in the window ledge near the “Little Library”. We would like to make them available to our Non-Food Pantry recipients so that they might be able to take advantage of them to help extend their food budget. Thanks in advance!

FREE DAILY DEVOTIONAL

We have some large print Day by Day daily devotionals in the sanctuary that you are free to take home for your personal devotions–and if we know that people would like copies, we can order the right amount. Many of you may also appreciate the on-line version of Day to Day. Click here.

ON-GOING COVID PROTOCOL

We continue to respond to both our county’s current CDC designation and to the current variant. Masking is optional. Decisions on COVID policy have moved from the Reconvening Committee to Rev. Jen and the Wardens.

We have heard that the daily reflections and scripture readings provided during Lent were appreciated. The meditations are written by persons from Gobin UMC and Beech Grove UMC. They will be in the newsletter each week. Whether you enjoy these every day or as the Spirit moves you, may this resource continue to bring you spiritual food for the journey. Blessings!

Click here to view the readings and accompanying links.

Your prayers are asked for: