A Note from the Editor

by Pam Doty
As I write, it is the fourth very long week of Lent. I have tried to keep a “holy” Lent, adding disciplines for spiritual, mental and physical health (I almost said growth, but the last thing I am seeking at this point in my life is physical growth. Indeed, I am diligently working on a decrease in that area). I truly seek a closer walk and deeper fellowship with my God, but I feel very much like an East Tennessee winter trying to get to Spring. I manage in fits and starts to quiet myself to hear a still, small voice. And just when my soul begins to blossom, it snows.

My life is filled with distractions just now -- things fiendishly designed to draw my attention away from God and back to myself. While I meditate on loving all God’s children, I keep running into some of his more cantankerous creatures. And the words of my friend Jack Ewing echo in my head --”They’re all God’s children. You have to love them anyway.”

It’s a whole lot easier to love in the abstract.

And then, one morning, it truly is Spring. The sky is clear, the daffodils are blooming and the “snow” turns out to be the white blossoms shed from flowering trees in a gentle breeze.

It does not matter how much I struggle during Lent. Even with the uneven progress, it is still progress. God is with me. He is teaching me about love and patience, reminding me that He loves no matter what.

So, with Holy Week approaching, I walk in fear and trembling. Joy awaits at the end of the journey. Easter approaches with the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I will walk in the light of the resurrected Christ. In thanksgiving I shall love as I have been loved. I will be reconciled to God and even his cantankerous creatures. Alleluia.