I confess that this year I feel as if I have been plodding through Lent...  I could blame it on my impatience for Spring to get here and my frustration with the lingering piles of dirty snow that still cling to the shady sides of buildings and parking lots.

To be honest though, I confess that Lent has never been an easy church season for me.  Each Ash Wednesday I commit to making the six weeks of Lent a time for the renewal of my faith.  I hope for Lent as a time to Spring clean my faith, so that when I get to Easter morning I am truly ready for the empty tomb and the miracle of the resurrection... And some years more than others there are moments when I feel truly ready and prepared for the details of Holy Week, when my journey toward Jerusalem seems in rhythm with the story of Jesus' last human week on this earth.  And then there are other years when I experience internal resistance and reluctance and I'm not quite prepared for Easter morning at all.

I imagine that I am not alone in this. So I say to you - I understand and it's okay. We can keep on working on our faith - polishing up pieces of it and letting other parts of it get tarnished for awhile.  I am grateful for and trust in God's grace. I am grateful that ready or not - there will be a moment somewhere this weekend when while singing a hymn, or visiting with family, or in the wafted smell of spring flowers on display, or in the radiance of a child's face - that I will know the presence of Christ and the abiding love of God and the kiss of the Holy Spirit.

May it be so for you as well this Easter.