Paul writes to the Corinthians, “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation…All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”

Each and every moment we have the chance to choose God and   embrace the teachings of Jesus.  Like the disciples in Corinth we can become a new creation, asking ourselves, “Who do I serve?  Is it solely myself so that I can feel self-sufficient and secure?  Or, do     I soulfully walk with God, the One whose healing Spirit seeks to transform my actions and attitudes, filling me with compassion and love?”

 The season of Lent is a good time to ask questions like these.   Recognizing the ways we are distracted by other “gods,” we can commit ourselves to the path of reconciling and redeeming love.  It is a time that we can recollect – literally re-collect – our truest selves and our place within the human family.  Paul Gilbert captures this sense of Christian decision-making in a sweet poem titled, Your Own Version:

You are writing a gospel,

A chapter each day,

By deeds that you do,

By words that you say.

All read what you write,

Whether faithless or true;

Say, what is the gospel

According to you?

 

Faithfully from The Reverend Lael Atkinson