Bay Life Uniting Church - Busselton
We would love to have you join us.
Drop in here each month to keep in touch with what has happened recently and what is coming up.
With Easter on the horizon, many Christians observe a Lenten fast. Lent begins on Ash
Wednesday (18 February), running through to Maundy Thursday (2 April), and it is a time of
reflective preparation for a deeper experience of what Easter means.
Fasting is not always well understood in our modern culture. Perhaps the best place to begin is by
choosing to set aside time each day to reflect deeply on how Christ’s journey impacts our lives. Of
course, we are all busy and carving-out time means that we’ll have to for-go something that usually
takes up that time. It’s not so much that we should be looking for ‘something bad’ to cut out (like
sugar or coffee), but rather it is choosing something to set aside in order to make time for the 40-
or-so minutes each day for reading Scripture, reflection and prayer. Most people are amazed by
the time wasted by television or scrolling through social media; others cut down on sleep or hobby
time, and the very dedicated might forgot part of a meal. The fast is broken each Sunday (or
regularly one another day of the week), and any fast lasts for a definite time - maybe 10 days, or 2
weeks, or the 40 days of Lent. Once the fast time is up, we get to return to our original pastime and
the return often brings richer experience and meaning.
As far as what people actually do during the time set aside for a fast, some choose to read slowly
through a Gospel, others choose a study. Some learn a different form of prayer, and others choose
to do intentional acts of kindness or volunteer for something meaningful. The point is to actually do
something that Jesus did, and seek Him in a new, concrete and meaningful way. Discovering the
inner dimensions of committing, for a fixed time, to something new opens pathways to fresh
discoveries about our journey with Christ. Often this is a time of re-aligning actions with values.
And when our actions and our values align, we tap into the enormous benefits of authenticity.
Authentic people make healthy relationships, and healthy relationships bless families, communities
and the world.
Going without something so that we can experience something new can be a most marvellous way
of discovering just how blessed we are. And discovering blessedness in loss (brief as the time may
be) is an important part of beginning to understand just how sacred appropriate sacrifice and
suffering can be in God’s hands. When Christ’s love is experienced through these dimensions,
Easter is infused with a vividness and beauty that would be missed if we hadn’t fasted.
Whether you chose a fast or not this Lenten season, may you find richer meaning and a deeper
experience of all that makes life wonderful this Easter!
Yours in Christ,
Stephen
Services at 10 am on Sundays; All welcome!
Tenebrae service on Thursday 2 April, at 7pm
Good Friday service on Friday 3 April, at 9am
Fellowship Group meets the Second Wednesday of the month at 10am
Prayer Meeting each Monday 2-3pm
Please visit this page often to stay tuned with upcoming events.