Dear Cornerstone Family,
February 14th is not only Valentine’s Day this year; it’s also the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany. This coming Wednesday marks the beginning of the six-week season in the Christian calendar known as Lent. The word Lent comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word for “length,” signifying the time when the days are just beginning to lengthen—namely, springtime.
It’s a season that begins in the dark, cold dead of winter. But by the end of the six weeks (40 days), the natural world will be bright, warm, and burgeoning with new life. This death unto life pattern of nature is symbolic of the Lenten to Easter season. The slow and somber work of repentance that characterizes Lent is what prepares our hearts for the resurrection renewal that marks Easter.
One theologian I read this week said, “Lent is like walking in a still darkened valley, even as the morning sun lights the tops of the mountains around us.” Yes, that’s it. Reminds me of the writer of Hebrews words, “For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross.” (Heb.12:2). From Bethlehem all the way to Golgotha, Jesus walked the valley of the shadow of death, but he did so with the top of Mount Zion shining in the distance.
As we enter Lent this year, please join us (either in-person or livestream) for our Ash Wednesday service on February 17 at 6:30pm. This brief 45-minute family service (nursery provided) is intended to remind us of our mortality and lead us into the grace of repentance. I do hope you’ll come and enter whole- heartedly into this season with your Cornerstone family.
Looking ahead, on Wednesday nights throughout the rest of February through March 24th, we will read and discuss several short pieces of literature together—pieces that invite reflection on the biblical theme of death unto life. Now, please don’t let the word “literature” intimidate you. These are truly brief pieces; in most cases, able to be read in a single sitting. As you’d expect, thoughtful reflection will be part and parcel of the reading experience and gatherings, but don’t forget—we’re reading these stories together. We will offer and gather insights from one another, and the facilitator will be our guide.
The first week we will read The River, by Flannery O’Connor, and will discuss it together on February 24. It can be found in her collection of short stories entitled; A Good Man is Hard to Find. O’Connor lived most of her life in Georgia, and many of her stories are set in the rural South and wrestle with the relationship between God and man. Although she wrote novels, O’Connor became known as the master of the short story before her death at the age of 39.
Subsequent weeks include:
March 3: The Death of Ivan Ilych (novella) by Leo Tolstoy led by Greg Wilbur
March 10: TBD poem by Wendell Berry led by Will Kesler
March 17: “The Wreck of the Deutschland” ode by G.M. Hopkins led by Nathan Johnson
March 24: “The Greatest Drama Ever Staged” & “Triumph of Easter” essays by Dorothy Sayers led by Dave Raymond
I sincerely hope you’ll join us during these five Wednesdays as we read, talk, and learn, and together “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
Your servant,
