The first Sunday of Lent, February 21, we will have a guest preacher, Rev. Nathan Rogers. For the past nine years Nathan has served as the Bereavement chaplain at Providence Home Health Services and Hospice. He is a colleague and friend of Pastor Steve’s and is probably the most knowledgeable person in Alaska on the experience of grief. Nathan has worked with a few thousand people in their journey with grief.
Grief comes from the experience of loss. We most commonly associate grief with the death of a loved one as we loose that person from being with us in this mortal life. But loss comes in many forms in addition to a person’s death. All of us have experienced loss during the pandemic in a multitude of ways. As we age we experience many dimensions of loss not only as our body ceases to be as strong but also in various forms of lost autonomy or independence in life.
One dimension of the season of Lent is the invitation for honest personal reflection of our interior life, which for many of us these days of the pandemic includes grieving loss.
Nathan will be preaching from the Lectionary texts of the day about how grief is ultimately a spiritual process that invites us to grow in our relationship with our loving God and Lord. Many in our congregation have lost loved ones over the past few years. I highly encourage you to join our worship on February 21 as Nathan speaks God’s Word into loss and grief.