And now... the end is near (for some)

As the course winds down for many of you, please spend some time reading over your blog posts and those of your classmates.  As you read, what stands out to you?  What have you learned about yourself, about life, about your values, your goals and hopes, your ideals?  What can you take with you as you go forward from this class? 

Finally, please read this article about Lent... it's about a period of 40 days, but gives insight into our lives.  Our faith journey, our life journey, is constantly becoming, growing... and often we get stuck in a rut, maybe when we've made a mistake, have regrets, experience loss in our lives, or just when things don't turn out the way we hoped.  But we are reminded in Lent that there is always hope, there is always resurrection, there is always another day.  We will constantly grow, change and learn.  I think Lent can be a metaphor for life.  At the end of the article the author reflects on Holy Saturday... the time of waiting:

"Holy Saturday has become an everyday vehicle of space, time and ritual that affords me the opportunity to bridge an end of an experience to the possibility of a new one. It is paved with quietness, emptiness, fear and anxiety. This waiting is what I am working on this Lent: the ability to regularly wait and put spaces of faithfulness in between the hecticness of all the moments of my days. This is the space where I can prepare myself for the unknown and open myself up to the miracle of Easter and the promise of new life.
Take a moment to consider how you experience Holy Saturday. Consider how your community celebrates this space of uncertainty and faith. Consider how the church is empty and quiet for 24 hours. How can you expand this space of waiting to make more room for the resurrected Christ in your life?"

Perhaps you find yourself in a time of waiting now.  Anticipating the future, college, independence, new opportunities, etc. with the hope and expectation of what is to become.  So, one final blog question- How can you expand this space of waiting to make more room for the resurrected Christ in your life?  How can you continue to make the time to think, reflect, pray, let it all soak in... instead of letting it pass and moving on to the next 'thing', 'relationship', 'experience', etc?