On Tuesday, my friends and I had supper at Bryan and Robin Amick, who are older, married students living on campus (their primary appeal is their kitchen, I have to admit. ;) ). My family has the tradition of making pancakes on Fat Tuesday before we start our Lenten fast. I've had a hard time adjusting to not having my parents, and the Amicks were nice enough to let me pretend my life was normal. And my friends were nice enough to eat my pancakes.
Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, we had a special chapel to celebrate. I don't remember if I wrote about it, but it was very similar to the Advent chapel. I've never been involved in a very formal church, and I think it's beautiful: in the spirit of a "time and place for everything," there are occasions when loud, joyful praise music should take place, but it's also necessary to temper that with solemn reflection. Ash Wednesday is one of those times.
It's easy, I think, to get caught up in the "friend of God" mentality and to overlook His perfection and holiness and our depravity. We sort of equalize ourselves and take God's love for us for granted. But really, that's a gross misinterpretation of how we should behave. How can you overlook what God did for us when He allowed His son to be killed because of our failures? Lent is the beginning of the season when God corrected our mistake, when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. It's a serious event, and it needs to be treated seriously.
I obviously have very strong feelings about this season of the Christian year, so I think I'm done ranting. Maybe I'll work on my paper some? Maybe not. There's time. :D
Video of the Blog Post: I don't think I've mentioned my deep, abiding love of Rich Mullins to you yet. He's my favorite musician. The depth of his music simply blows me away. Listen to the lyrics carefully and think of what it means to be caught in the "reckless, raging fury we call the love of God." It's that fury that led Him to die for us.
-Elizabeth
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