Dear Edgeboro Family & Friends,

A new season of the church year is upon us – Lent. It’s a season of repentance, which is not only humbly seeking forgiveness for our sins, but an action of turning around, making corrections, and refocusing on Jesus, reclaiming his teaching and his ways as our own. This is the reason why people will give something up or try something new during Lent. It’s also a time to be truthful with ourselves and to examine ourselves for the pain, the stress, and the shortcomings that we ignore most days because we don’t want to address it or don’t have the time for it. This doesn’t sound fun, but in so doing, it can lead to healing and hope as we realize that more people are standing with us than we thought.

I was reminded of this when I went with the confirmation class to Keneseth Israel, a Reform Jewish congregation in Allentown. Each Friday night, part of their worship service is devoted to the kaddish, which is a time of prayer devoted to remembering departed loved ones. The wall to our right as we sat in the sanctuary was entirely devoted to the deceased. Large plaques covered the wall where all the names of departed congregation members were listed. Each had small lights next to their name, but the only ones that were on were the ones next to the names of those whose anniversary of their death was in the coming week. The rabbi read each of the names that was illuminated. As he did so, he invited anyone who remembered the individual or mourning their loss to stand, making sure that at least one person stood for each name read. After he gave a short prayer of thanksgiving and comfort for those departed and those standing, he invited anyone else to stand who was remembering the anniversary of a departed loved one in the coming week. I stood up. I had not even been thinking about it at the time, which truthfully made me feel a little guilty, but three days later would mark five years since my grandfather passed away. After that, the rabbi invited everyone else to stand, saying that this was a visual reminder of how we all stand in support of everyone remembering a loss, no matter how much time has passed. I had no idea this was coming, and I had no idea that I needed this reminder, but my heart was full knowing that both friends and strangers were behind me in that moment.

We have an opportunity to find and to provide this kind of solidarity at Edgeboro during Lent as we confess and repent and examine our lives. I pray that as we walk through this season together that we may not only experience that for ourselves, but we may also experience our Savior’s great care and mercy as we witness him stop at nothing to show his love for us all.

Standing with you all,
Pastor Dan