“Whoever would be my disciple must take up their own cross and follow me.” Luke 9:23
Dear People of St. David’s,
I pray that you and yours are well as we walk our way through the season of Lent. I hope that your time in the ‘wilderness,’ your time of trying to live your life in a different way, has opened a means for God to enter your life more richly; if not, no worries. As Jesus told Nicodemus in last Sunday’s Gospel, the wind blows where it will. Sometimes our timing doesn’t always line up with God’s timing. Take heart, God is walking right next to you!
We may have to wait on God a little longer and that’s not always easy. Walking with Christ and living our lives in ways that better open us to God is not always what we hope or expect it to be. Sometimes life with God is difficult, and yet it is the only one I know that promises real, grace-filled life here and beyond the door of death.
Jesus knows that life can be hard even when we’re connected to God. He knows because He lived it and tells us the truth, that sometimes following Him is like carrying a cross: it can be rough, heavy, and difficult. As we follow in Jesus’ way, most of us find that we have to die to certain things, but those little deaths open the way for more life.
A close friend of mine liked to say (and still likes to say), “When Jesus says, ‘Come, follow me’; He’s not skipping down the road as though He doesn’t have a care in the world.” Jesus is caring for everyone and longs for everyone to know God and live together in grace and love; and so should we. Life is not about our entertainment and comfort only. God is calling us to grow and become and make a difference by the way we live our lives. That can be hard.
Though it’s not always easy to carry our cross, we don’t take it alone. The One who has gone before us is walking beside us and guiding us along the right pathways; empowering us to continue on.
As we make our way through the halfway point of Lent and see Holy Week and Easter drawing closer, I encourage you to continue to take up your cross or pick it up now. Live your life in a way that opens you up to the movement and presence of God. Look for ways to make a difference in the lives of others, even when it costs you something. Know that you’re not walking alone, for Christ is with us.
Grace and Peace,
The Rev. W. Frank Allen
Rector