I thought I might share some reflections as we move through Lent but want to avoid the pitfalls of appearing to be making great strides forward in my personal spiritual journey. It's sometimes a struggle and as we discussed at Alpha last night, we're all beginners in prayer. So I may well share the times and thoughts where I feel most challenged, rather than the things about which I feel most pleased.
I'm reading Eugene Peterson's book, Working the Angles this Lent and it's an uncomfortable read. Here's a paragraph from page 2:
The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before God week after week in towns and villages all over the world. The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them. In these communities of sinners, one of the sinners is called the pastor and given a designated responsibility in the community. The pastor's responsibility is to keep the community attentive to God. It is this responsibility that is being abandoned in spades.Tough stuff. And spot on. There are many responsibilities that vicars and other ministers pick up along the way but none so crucial as encouraging an attentiveness to God. This goes to the core of our calling but is so easily buried beneath other demands and apparently urgent issues.
