University Congregational United Church of Christ
LENT 2010

"Guide My Feet"

We find something powerful with this phrase, with this image, and with this African- American spiritual with the same title. It is this power, we pray, which will guide us in this holy season.

You may recall that we have been intent to transform the “All Saints Prayer Flags” now adorning our courtyard into some form of theme for Lent. In conversation among the Worship and Spiritual Life Team, we came to understand that the names of those saints we wrote on the flags represent those who have guided us in coming to know about life and faith. They were the ones who helped guide us in finding our way.

We spoke of how Lent is a pilgrimage of finding our way every year. We go out into the wilderness, like Jesus, for 40 days and nights discerning our souls and going deeper so we might be opened up to the transforming graces of God. We remembered how faith is not simply a set of beliefs we agree to, but actions we embody. Our feet, as part of our body, can help to show us what it is we really do believe in.

“Guide My Feet” is greatly different than simply saying to myself “I’m going to go where I think I should go.” When one says I am going “where my feet take me” guided by God’s grace it implies you are being guided by a different compass. It is a call to trust that which is not only of my mind, but also my heart and my body and those parts of my humanity might guide me as well. Beyond that, it is asking that a force of love beyond me will extend guidance. This suggests a need to trust that this guidance is holy and sacred and, well, different.

In this season we will have art, movement, visuals, sounds, stories and symbols to guide us. We are all invited to discern what, how our feet might lead us and how they may well indeed be guided. We very much look forward to the landscape we shall trod together… Let us walk on…

“Because of our God’s tender mercy
the dawn will break upon us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:77-78)

The word "Lent" (e.g. Anglo-Saxon lencten) originally meant the season of Spring, referring to the lengthening of days. It has been used since Anglo-Saxon times for the more significant Latin term quadragesima or the "fortieth day" before Easter. Lent is also preserved in the common Dutch word for the spring season, which is called Lente. The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and ends at Easter. There are 40 days in the Lenten season, not counting Sundays. Each Sunday is considered a "little Easter."

The traditions of Lent are derived from the season's origin as a time when the church prepared candidates, or "catechumens," for their baptism into the Body of Christ. It eventually became a season of preparation not only for catechumens but also for the whole congregation.

Self-examination, study, fasting, prayer and works of love are disciplines historically associated with Lent. Conversion—literally, the "turning around" or reorientation of our lives towards God—is the theme of Lent. Both as individuals and as a community, we look inward and reflect on our readiness to follow Jesus in his journey towards the cross. The forty days of Lent correspond to the forty-day temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and the forty-year journey of Israel from slavery to a new community. (taken from the United Church of Christ website http://ucc.org)

We will gather in the Sanctuary for a simple worship serive, with the imposition of ashes. Children are invited to participate in the service. It is a time to remember our mortality and to give thanks for the gift of life.

During the Lenten season we gather for potluck dinners, a time of study and then a time of worship. Our schedule for Wednesdays will be as follows:

5:30 PM - Potluck dinner
6:15 PM - Lenten Classes
7:30 PM - Worship