Killinger - Inner Journey to Easter: a Lenten Devotional

An Inner
Journey to
Easter

For John,

who is the light of my life

A LENTEN DEVOTIONAL

by

Anne Kathryn Killinger

Copyright 2010 by Anne Killinger.

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Bible quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NASB is taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Cover art: FOTOSEARCH

Cover and interior design: Elizabeth Wright

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EPUB: 978-08272-16426 EPDF: 978-08272-16433

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Killinger, Anne Kathryn.

An inner journey to Easter : a Lenten devotional / by Anne Kathryn Killinger.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-8272-1641-9 (hardcover)

1. LentPrayers and devotions. 2. Easter-Prayers and devotions. 3. Devotional calendars. I. Title.

BV85.K47 2010

Printed in the United States of America

For a Christian, Easter is a very special time and should not be approached without thoughtful preparation. Most of us prepare for it in casual ways. We think especially of what we shall wear, whether it will be an old dress and shoes or new ones, a hat weve worn before or a lovely new one. We usually plan a special meal, perhaps with lamb because it has always been associated with the Lamb of God, and, if we arent on a diet, some yeasty bread and a fattening desert. Sometimes we even take a special trip at Easter, to the seashore or the mountains or to see friends or family members we dont see very often.

If you are like me, though, you know we often fail to prepare in the most important way, so that our hearts are ready for the dramatic news that Christ is risen and a new order has come into being. Spiritually, Easter sort of sneaks up on us. We know it is coming, but we stay so busy doing the routine things which constitute our lives that we arent very much aware of its approach until it is suddenly upon us, and we are like the poor girls in Jesus parable whose lamps had gone out while they slept, so that they werent ready to celebrate the coming of the bridegroom.

We have not kept vigil through the long days of Lent.

We have not walked with Jesus on his way to Jerusalem or watched and listened as he taught and ministered during Holy Week.

We have not prayed with him in the garden of Gethsemane or followed him to the cross on Golgotha.

Then one Sunday morning, we wake up and realize that Easter is upon us. We feel empty, guilty, and unprepared for the blessing of a great celebration.

It doesnt take a lot of time to prepare for Easter. Actually, it only takes a few minutes a day. One of the ways I like to prepare is by reading something inspirational each day. I think it was Stephen Leacock, the humorist and essayist, who said he liked to take small bites of thought and chew them well. I find that its amazing what a single idea or expression can mean to me when I lodge it in my heart and ponder it while going about my ordinary tasks and routines each day.

Most of the writings in this bookone for each day during Lentare ideas I have pondered in such a way. They are small thoughts or observations. I have enjoyed turning them over and over in my mind and reflecting on their individual beauty, piquancy, or power.

I hope that reading and thinking about these selections will help you prepare for Easter the way writing about them has helped me. At the very least, I hope you and I will be friends when you have finished reading the book, for these are my very intimate thoughts and you will have spent several weeks with them. When we have made this inner journey, it will be my pleasure to wish you a happy Easter and my hope that your entire year will be richer and more rewarding for our having traveled this way together.

Anne Kathryn Killinger

I wish I were present and could change my tone.Galatians 4:20

Spring arrived early this year. Rain has pelted the earth for six consecutive days. Our house is damp. The balmy temperature outside makes my skin feel clammy. Even my soul is moldy. What a way to begin Lent! If asked at this point what Im giving up for the Lenten season, my quick, unreasoned response would be rain.

With cabin fever and a watery soul, I decided to don some rain gear and brave the elements to take a three-mile hike. This daily walk is ordinarily reserved for when my husband comes home from work. We enjoy strolling up and down the roads and byways and chatting about the days happenings. But today, facing the beginning of Lent, I needed to clip off the distance alone and try to find some redeeming feature to my being in this water-soaked world.

I havent ever enjoyed walking in rain. As a child, I would be a Miss Crossmouth whenever I had to walk to school or church on rainy days. On this day, I had trudged about half a mile, with my head bent low, before I realized that the rain had stopped. This is more like it! I thought. Then, a few minutes later, I felt warmth on my back that made me stop and turn around. There was the mythical sun, barely breaking through a sky full of dark, ominous clouds. But that lone sunray, shining brightly down on me, was like the breath of God giving me new life.

I resumed my walk with a light heart and a bouncy step. Joyously, I began to see everything around me: the fat, wiggly earthworms; the smallest leaves on the tallest branches of the stately oaks; and the bunnies hopping from one green clump of grass to another. Gratefully, I admired the clusters of pure white blossoms on the wild dogwood trees beautifully gracing wooded areas. The azaleas, tulips, and daffodils had been washed to the brightest reds, pinks, and yellows I had ever seen. I felt almost overcome by the sweet fragrance of the purple and white hyacinths brought out by the steady rains. The gentle wind seemed to whisper a delicate song of praise in my ears. It was as if everything in nature were preparing anew for a season in which to celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord!

How will I celebrate Lent? Im giving up a morose attitude and a dampened spirit. Im taking a forty-day journey, hand in hand and tte--tte, with the Master. The rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come (Song 2:11b12a).

Lent never began so beautifully!

Prayer: Give me the gift of awareness, O God. Help me to be sensitive to the extraordinary beauty of the world in which you have placed me and to live with your praise on my lips. Amen.