A Lenten Pilgrimage 2023

  Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 I have had a month.   You know, nothing seriously wrong but lots of little curve balls being thrown at me and I just couldn’t seem to connect with a single one of them. My car broke down – three times.   My daughter flew home for reading week and her flight was delayed a day…which meant a long day at the airport and we lost a precious day of being together.   On the way home from Calgary, we got caught in the BIG snowstorm, had to call in to work for the next day and stay in a hotel overnight.   We had an impromptu trip to the vet – which is an experience with our anxiety ridden Lucy - as she had a strange looking something growing on her head, (thought it might have been a tick. It wasn’t – thank you Jesus).   I had a toothache, which meant an impromptu trip to the dentist – which is an experience with an anxiety ridden Wendy.   I could go on, but you get the idea.   I don’t want to seem pessimistic.   I can see all the amazing blessings

  Reading:        Ezekiel 37:21b-28 One verse from today’s passage in Ezekiel – verse 23 – stands out as a succinct articulation of a persistent hope in the Lenten season.             They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their                     detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them                from their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them.                Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. This verse speaks to personal forgiveness, the promise of divine grace, and a resurrection of individual purpose for anyone grappling with failures or personal disappointments.   Contemplating the promise of God’s grace, and the hope of redemption, I often am brought to the example of John Profumo. Those of us “of a certain age” may remember that name from a fading era of British politics.   After distinguished service in the Second World