Dear Readers,
We are so glad you have chosen to walk the Lenten journey alongside us this year, utilizing this devotional. This book is written by a collection of young pastors who are gifted by the Bethany Fellowships. You can read more about the Bethany Fellowships and the future of "church" at the back of this book. In this devotional we have prepared a reading for each day of the Lenten season and hope it can be a guide for you as you journey along "the way" with God over the next several weeks.
In his book Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation, Parker J. Palmer shares his experience of searching for a new direction, a new way. In his search, he visits Pendle Hill, "a community rooted in prayer, study, and a vision of human possibility," where he is guided to simply "Have faith…and way will open." After much discernment, waiting, and frustration, that way had not yet opened for him, but then a woman named Ruth opened his eyes to the possibility that perhaps "way" would not open clearly in front of him, but that "a lot of way has closed behind me, and that's had the same guiding effect."
As followers of Christ, each of us is following "way"; the earliest Christians were referred to as "followers of the way," and the prophet Isaiah spoke of what it would take to prepare the way for the arrival of God's anointed one. A focus on the way of Jesus as laid out in John's Gospel helps us to follow in his footsteps and see both his choices and priorities; reminders from Isaiah help us to see that the way of Christ is rooted in justice.
We are in this journey together, yet the experience of following "way" can be very different for each person. It is our hope that the voices of many different pastors from different contexts, denominations, and life experiences will help you to find your own place on the road. You can use this resource alone or in a group, at the same time of day or whenever you find a free and quiet moment-what matters most is that you make the time to read, reflect, and pray.
Join us this Lent as we use passages from the book of Isaiah and the Gospel of John to follow the way: the way to the Lord, the way of Jesus, the way to the cross…the way to new life.
Blessings on your journey,
-Nannette Banks, Laura Ann Phillips, and Lara Blackwood
Pickrel, editors, and the Bethany Fellowship Writing Team