When we decided to host the webinar on “A Life worth Living” with Volf and Brooks we hoped we would get more than 100 folks to participate, maybe even up to 500. But in the end, well over 1100 households tuned in, some as far away as India!. (If you missed it you can still find it HERE.) So we are staying with this theme for the season of Lent. What makes for a life worth living and how do we glimpse this more clearly as we focus on the journey of Jesus to the cross and empty tomb?

Last year, our congregation could gather on Ash Wed for in person worship and we were partway through Lent before the fear of covid sent us online for streaming. It’s mind boggling to realize that we are still physically separated from each other as we sit down to worship each Sunday. So this year our clergy wanted to find a way that we could take this sacred journey through Lent together. You will see each week on the communion table, not just one chalice but many chalices. It’s a way of remembering that we share one cup of life but we are spread out across the city and nation.

Here is what we invite you to do, to connect from your home. Find a “chalice” of sorts in your own home — be it a crystal stemmed glass or a pottery mug. Place it somewhere you will see each day. Every Sunday, ask yourself: What makes life worth living? How can I practice that during Lent? Write down whatever comes to mind, and place it in the cup. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17 and the first Sunday of Lent is Feb. 21. We will interview some of you to find out what makes life worth living for you.

Someone has written that the purpose of Lent is to wake us up to our need for Lent. It is a season to pause and reflect on who we are and who God calls us to become. By focusing on the short but powerful life of Jesus, we remember what our own lives are meant to be. Why did he live? Why did he die?

Frederick Buechner wrote, “One life on this earth is all that we get, whether it is enough or not enough, and the obvious conclusion would seem to be that at the very least we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can.”

Grace and Peace,

Carla