And now we start Lent:- our yearly journey towards Jerusalem and the events of Holy Week, towards the despair of Good Friday and the joy of Easter Day. We know the full story, what happens, the end and the beginning but the first disciples lived it, moment by moment, mile by mile, highs and lows, not knowing where Jesus was taking them.
In the same way our lives unfold, starting at birth, through childhood, and onwards towards the ‘mature years’.
We can look back to see at how far we have come; maybe it was a straight road or maybe there were lots of unexpected twists and turns, a few wanderings away from the route but here we are in March 2025.
On Friday the annual World Day of Prayer service will take place all across the world; in our area at Granton Parish Church at 2.30pm. It has been written by women from the Cook Islands.
The central theme is ‘We are wonderfully made’ using Psalm 139 with its emphasis on how God has known each one of us from before we were born; how wonderfully we are made; how He has watched over us as we began to grow and even in the times when we have gone astray and tried to hide from him, He has been there in the darkness which threatens to overwhelm us.
Hymn 96 in CH4 (You are before me, God, you are behind, and over me you have spread out your hand) is used throughout the service as a recurring theme of how God is there in all stages of our lives; beside us at all parts of our journey at whatever age; whether we are aware of his presence or not.
Lent is:
a time to think about the footsteps of Jesus making his way towards Jerusalem and all that awaited him there;
a time to find the space to reflect on our journey with God;
a time to look forward to the future path of our lives.
As the hymn says,’ keep me from any path that gives you pain, and lead me in the everlasting way.’
