We are Mid-Lent and can see the light at the end of the tunnel in many ways. Vaccinations are getting us very near a point where it is safe to congregate indoors as well as out of doors. Warmer weather and daylight savings will entice us outside again for longs walks and longer porch visits. Soon we shall celebrate a joyous Easter, after a long, long wait. But not yet. Not yet. Mid-Lent calls us to push on and push through.
 
This coming Sunday is what some call “refreshment Sunday;” it is a time to quickly break the Lenten fast and enjoy a short respite before pushing on toward Holy Week and the cross. This Sunday’s readings bear this theme of refreshment out long enough for us to get our heads around how we’ll accept the crucifixion once again, and how we’ll understand its saving grace. In the gloomy days of Lent (in the lingering days of a pandemic) we can fail to see the goodness of which we are made. The writer of the Ephesians, which we’ll hear this Sunday, does not lose this important thread: “For we are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Ephesians 2:10)
 
Hope to see you after church Sunday for some yard work—you’ll see some lovely daffodils who’ve come early to show us their smiles. We’ll have some pizza to share and ready ourselves for the last weeks of Lent!

Yours faithfully, Polly+