A New Identity

So Lent begins again. I am sure it is meant to be a joyful time as we let go of some of the things which preoccupy or enslave us, and make space for our own personal desert.  After all, the word 'Lent' comes an Old English word meaning 'spring'. It's spring-time for the soul!  Growth, renewal, new life bursting forth culminating in the exaltation of Easter.

We begin a new section in We Make the Road by Walking. McLaren gives it the title Alive in a Global Uprising: his take on what the message of Jesus, his death and resurrection, were all about. And on Sunday, we begin a Lent series meditating thoughtfully around the Sermon on the Mount.  This Sunday, A New Identity is the theme. reflecting on the Beatitudes.  The values of the upside-down Kingdom of God. As McLaren puts it: …if we want to be his disciples, we won’t be able to simply coast along and conform to the norms of our society. We must choose a different definition of well-being, a different model of success, a new identity with a new set of values.

This is very much in keeping with Lent, as choosing the way of Christ over any other way is something we affirm, much as Jesus chose God's way in the desert, rather than the tempter's.