Lenten Learnings
As a teenager, one of my favorite tunes on the radio was Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’. I can still sing some of the words from memory:
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land,
And don’t criticize what you can’t understand. . . .
Your old road is rapidly agin’.
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand,
For the times they are a-changin’.
When I was a teenager this seemed like a wonderful song . . .a word to the older generation, wisdom to be heeded. Now that I sit on the other side, so to speak, now that I am the one who doesn’t understand, now that I am the one who is agin’ . . ., well, now these words seem a bit strong and unfair.
No one would deny that the world as we know it is changing at a rapid speed. Uncharted territory describes the landscape of our lives. Sometimes we feel in control of the changes we make, and at other times we have no control. Many people adapt and are even energized by change, and others find that their capacity to cope is greatly stressed. At times like this, my friends, there is only one place where we can find solid ground.
The ancient words of the Psalmist whisper encouragement to our distracted and sometimes disheartened spirits:
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Psalm 46: 1-3, 10-11 NIV
Dear friends, take heart. Times may be changing, but God is in the midst of the change, and God will continue to be our ever-present help. In these 40 days of Lent, may you find time to be still and know the one who holds you in all times!
Shalom, Margaret