“Slowly” – Sursum Corda News March 2022
Dear Sursum Corda Mamas–
Slowly. For many church traditions, today marks the first day of Lent–a season of fasting, simplifying, and preparing for Easter. The word Lent, they tell us, originally just meant “springtime,” but many people have noticed its similarity to Latin/Italian lente, ‘slowly.’ Does this time of year move slowly for you?
I have had springs that dripped by in agonizing slow motion, but more that raced past in a dizzying welter of events. Sometimes they seem to do both! More often than not, the slow unfurling of natural beauty–orange blossoms, bees in the sunshine–has seemed like a terrible contrast to internal struggles, or squabbling children, or looming deadlines. But Easter has always come, anyway. Slow bees in the sunshine, slow waiting in tears; racing-heart intensity, pounding days of motherhood–the Lord has been at work in them all.
In our home, we sing the carol, “A White Lent” every spring. One verse reflects on the ultimate goal of Lent this way:
To bow the head
In sackcloth and in ashes,
Or rend the soul,
Such grief is not Lent’s goal;
But to be led
To where God’s glory flashes,
His beauty to come nigh,
To fly, to fly,
To fly where truth and light do lie.
As you teach your children, and pray over their characters; as you fight your daily battles, and pour out your heart in the classroom; as you watch bees in the sunshine, and as you lay down your life…may you be led to where God’s glory flashes. Easter will always come.
With love,
Heather (for the Board)