March 2023 Newsletter
This March marks three years since the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality for life in Montana. Can you believe that? It’s already been three years! In some ways, that feels like a lifetime ago. But in other ways, it feels just like yesterday.
The pandemic has had lasting effects on everything. We may be over wanting to wear masks or take nose tests, but the effects of that season of our collective lives are still with us. Work, inflation, church, housing, travel, our physical and mental health, even EGGS! – almost everything we touch has been shaped or changed within the last three years. It’s been a defining moment or our ordinary, everyday lives.
Maybe that’s what caught my eye when I chose our theme for Lent this year, “Lent in Plain Sight.” Everything we see or touch has been shaped by recent events, but Jesus used ordinary, everything things to teach his followers, too. Things like bread, coins, shoes, and oil. Maybe if we listen deeply to Christ’s words, the objects we encounter in our daily living will help us feel grounded in God’s presence. Connecting these objects in our lives with the words of Jesus will help use see God’s promises and feel God’s nurturing love.
Join us in worship and our book study, or read the devotional on your own, as we strive to experience a holy Lent.
Blessings,
Pastor Jared