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 Hello Everyone,  

It may be hard to believe but the season of Lent is just around the corner (Ash Wednesday is on March 2nd).   I am offering a Lenten Study to take place on the following dates: (Saturday mornings)  

March 5, 12, 19, 26, April 2, 9, 23   These are Saturdays Each session will begin at 10:30 and end no later than noon.  

It is not necessary to attend each and every session, but attend as many as you wish.    

We will be using a study written by Magrey R. devega, a  United Methodist Pastor, as our main resource, supplemented from time to time with other writings, prayers, etc.  The study is entitled. “Embracing the Uncertain – A Lenten Study for Unsteady Times”. Here is a brief description of the study:

Just turning on the news shows that we live in uncertain times.  Economic instabilities, eruptions of violence, and natural catastrophes  (the pandemic)can alter the lives and landscapes of entire communities.  Our individual lives are often just as unsteady: relationships can break, plans can falter, confidence can fail.   Most of us find uncertainty uncomfortable, preferring stability  and a predictable future to an unknown fate.   We are wired to want to control our destiny.  “Embracing the Uncertain” invites you to take a different perspective this Lenten season.  Instead of ignoring or hiding from life’s uncertainties, you can engage them with confidence and find a stronger faith along the way. … Magrey deVega explores six stories in the Gospels as Jesus travels to Jerusalem, where he will be crucified.  These stories are signposts in the gospel narrative, pointing down at a world filled with uncertainty, yet pointing us forward to a cross that can show us how to follow Jesus with courage, obedience, and the hope of resurrection. (The seventh chapter focuses on the Easter story of resurrection)   Each chapter includes questions for reflection and discussion…”  

The books are available to participants for $14.00  IF YOU ARE INTERESTED,  kindly contact me by email, phone, or in person by February 28th. 

At this time I am hoping we might be able to meet in person, but having the study by way of ZOOM is also possible.  Once I have an idea as to the number interested in the study, a decision can be made in that regard. Perhaps if you are interested when you contact me you can provide your thoughts on having the study in person vs. ZOOM.   Lent is a good time for a deeper dive into our lives of faith.   

Please give this study your prayerful consideration.  

Here is a prayer suitable for these times in which we live, or for certain times in our personal lives. It is written by Thomas Merton, a Roman Catholic monk, poet, and prolific writer on spiritual and social themes.   

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

“The Merton Prayer” from Thoughts in Solitude Copyright © 1956, 1958 by The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. Used by permission of Farrar Straus Giroux. 

Thank you,  Rev. Bob