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Show Lenten season underway By REV. PON PROCTOR BOUNTIFUL COMMUNITY CHURCH Feb. 17 began the Lenten season and for many Christians it is a day of obligation, so the Bountiful Community Church, 100 N. 400 E. , has scheduled two Ash Wednesday services. Lent will be observed until un-til Easter, April 3. : The liturgy appointed for Ash : Wednesday reminds us quite force-'' force-'' fully that "the fullness of the : Christian life can never be attained ; unless the desires, as well as the ; will, are wholly directed towards : God and away from sin." : The mies of Christian ethics are : useless unless human personality : is infused by a higher and divine power. We call this higher and di-l di-l vine power, grace. This grace can be gained by no mere human effort or works; it is something given wholly from without; but we can so order and rule our lives as to open them to divine influence, and to give that influence the fullest possible possi-ble scope when once it has been received. Lent is a time when all Christians ought to be doing some spiritual housecleaning such as examining some of the priorities in our lives. We always remember that the Christian life is not so much a life of following rules, as much as a life of following Christ. Christian character charac-ter can in no way better be formed than by acts of attention concentrated concen-trated upon our Lord. The purpose of Lent and Easter is to bring about a thorough renewal renew-al of all humans. It is a time of penitence and spiritual self-examination: self-examination: a time for putting aside sinful existence and a transition transi-tion into a new, pure form of life. The duration of Lent has varied over the years. In the second century, cen-tury, worshippers fasted only on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. In the third century, Lent was extended ex-tended to all of Holy Week. In 337, 36 days were set aside for fasting. It was not until the seventh century, that Ash Wednesday became the beginning of a 40-day Lenten season. Ash Wednesday is named for the symbolic acts of the ministers and priests, who bur:. Jrn branches which were blessed on Palm Sunday Sun-day of the previous year. With the ashes, a cross is marked on the forehead of each worshipper as a reminder of our mortality. Each of us faces the inevitability of physical physic-al death. Our bodies and material possessions eventually will turn to dust and ashes. This is a reminder that we dare not trust in things that crumble. But Lent does not leave us on the ash heap. It begins with Ash Wednesday, but ends with Easter. And Easter proclaims that through Christ, God resurrects us from our dust and ashes, makes us new creatures, crea-tures, and brings life out of death. We go through Good Friday to experience ex-perience Easter. As great as Easter is, it is only the beginning, the "first fruits" of what is yet to come. So if you think it is great, as indeed it is, that "Christ is risen," then just you wait, the best is yet to come, a great resurrection life at the end of time ! "Be still and know that I am God." In this Lenten season, let us find occasions to be still and come to know God. kj |