| This Wednesday burdens us with the tasks of the day, for we are already halfway home halfway back to committees and memos, halfway back to calls and appointments, halfway on to next Sunday,halfway back, half frazzled, half expectant,half turned toward you, half rather not. From “Marked by Ashes” by Walter Brueggemann (click here to read the full poem) |
| Dear Friends, We are in the middle of the week. We are in the middle of the middle of Lent today. Three Wednesdays ago, it was Ash Wednesday. Three Wednesdays from now, it will be Holy Wednesday. If the Hump Day message were to have its own day of dedication, this might well be the best day to choose. Of course, this midpoint in Lent is perhaps an inverted metaphor to the typical “hump day” one. From week-to-week the idea is that one struggles to climb up to Wednesday and slides sweetly into the weekend’s grounding. From the “top of the mound” one can see far ahead and far behind. The Lenten midpoint, however, is a valley. So perhaps it more like a true middle. The thing about being smack in the middle of anything is that it is too far from the start to go back; too far maybe to remember what was. At the same time, it is far from what is next; too far maybe to remember the destination or the way to get there. The climb may seem too steep. Perhaps the key to moving forward from this low middle is to continue without distraction and with trust. The middle place can be full of anxiety, maybe to the point of distraction; maybe to the point of showing up halfway. There is this response: “Wait a minute, I’m in the middle of something.” This is a verbal do not disturb sign. That response might be about distraction. But it also might be about focus. What are the good things that deserve focus? This Lent, here in the middle, in the valley, what if we choose to focus on what is life-giving, what fills us out of halfway? Let’s give it a go and see where we arrive, with God’s help. In Peace, Rev. Dina |