TARA’S TALK

This Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten season.  Lent is

a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a time in

which we examine our lives and look for those things that stand

in the way of our relationship with God. Is it our time?

Is it the things we choose to spend our money on? Is it ourselves?

Lent is a time for self-examination and taking stock. Many people give

something up for Lent. The idea is to give something up that is a hindrance in your relationship with God. Instead of this practice, I

work on myself. I look at my internal spiritual health and focus on

being more centered. This could be something I would like to work on eternally, or add to my life, like spending more time in study and prayer.

As we all take that journey with Jesus to the cross, we travel through

our own deserts. But know you are not making that journey alone, you are

with Jesus, and your brothers and sisters in Christ. I invite you to take

time this Lent to take stock and practice a spiritual practice you are comfortable with. It could be giving something up, adding something to your life, prayer, meditation, or going out into the community and being

the hands and feet of Christ. As we begin our Lenten journey I would like

to share the following prayer with you:

There is a wisdom in ash,

that we need so much,

but seldom hear.

It's the wisdom of grief,

that reminds us of our mortality,

and that Life is more than this dust can contain.

It's the wisdom of confession,

that brings our darkness out of hiding,

and opens the windows to Light.

It's the wisdom of repentance,

That stops us in our tracks,

And charts the way to Love.

There's a wisdom in ash,

and we welcome it, Jesus,

thankful for the renewing gifts it brings.

Amen.

-John van de Laar

Grace and Peace, Tara

It is a new year, and a new beginning here at

          We began this New Year with exciting team ministry meetings as we look forward to this next year, and are open and prayerful about the ways God is working in our midst. In my first week here at Belmont, through personal visits I have made, conversations around the table, and prayer meetings I have attended in the community, I can feel God at work among us. I feel very blessed and grateful to share in ministry with you as we listen to the call God has placed not only on our personal lives, but also on our life as one body, the body of Christ.

          As the prophet Isaiah tells us, “Those who walk in darkness have seen a great light, those who have dwelt in deep darkness on them has light shined.” We are a people of The Epiphany celebrating life, celebrating hope, and celebrating light. I would like to share with you a parting thought from author Anne Lamott:

“Hope begins in the dark; the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up.”

That is my prayer for each one of us, as we come into the light of the Epiphany. May we listen to that still small voice of God within us as we wait, as we watch, and as we work to spread the good news in God’s Kingdom.

                                                Grace and Peace, Tara