Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”

• Mark 8:34-9:1

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

• Psalm 91:1-8

“There is indeed one mental image which does not lure me away into trivial elaborations. I mean the Crucifixion itself; not seen in terms of all the pictures and crucifixes, but as we must suppose it to have been in its raw, historical reality. But even this is of less spiritual value than one might expect. Compunction, compassion, gratitude-all the fruitful emotions-are strangled. Sheer physical horror leaves no room for them. Nightmare. Even so, the image ought to be periodically faced. But no one could live with it. It did not become a frequent motif of Christian art until the generations which had seen real crucifixions were all dead. As for many hymns and sermons on the subject-endlessly harping on blood, as if that were all that mattered-they must be the work either of people so far above me that they can’t reach me, or else of people with no imagination at all.  (Some might be cut off from me by both these gulfs.)”

• C.S. Lewis, Preparing for Easter (from Letters to Malcom, Chiefly on Prayer, chapter 16)

Boilerplate

First, the concept of Lent is the preparation for what is to come, the anniversary of Christ’s death and resurrection between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  But in some denominations, the entire time from Advent, the anticipation of Christ’s coming (remembrance of His birth but preparation for His return) to Easter (Christ’s resurrection from the dead)…  This bracket of time is a celebration of the entire life of Jesus Christ on earth.  Christ’s conception to His ascension and on to the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles at Pentecost can be presented and celebrated from early December until Pentecost Sunday.

Many denominations only focus on Christmas and Easter, or maybe the entirety of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter, and then may or may not focus on Pentecost.

But for those that recognize Lent, the Lenten season in many denominations has an element of fasting.  Sadly, this is done as Jesus teaches us not to do.  They make a big deal out of it when we should do it in private, something just between us and God.  But that tradition stems from the forty days of fasting that Jesus did in the wilderness after His baptism and before His ministry started.  The Lenten season is kicked off on Ash Wednesday.  And after forty days, we reach Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week.  The concept of ashes is symbolized by at least one denomination having a cross painted on their forehead in ashes, sometimes from burning the palm fronds from the previous Palm Sunday the year before.  Again, that draws attention to the fact that they have started their fast.  But they are also announcing that they are Christians.  There is good and bad there.

So, when we are in the Lenten season, what should we focus on?  It depends.  We should focus on Jesus, but we might want to focus on our service to God.  What can we do better?  How can we spread the Gospel?  From Conception to Pentecost…  His mission was completed on earth, but He left us with something to do.

As for the Lewis book, it comes from a compilation of Lewis’ writings, edited by Zachry Kincaid.  In the book, there is a devotion, of sorts, from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday, the Lenten Season.  Each devotion contains suggested Scriptures and a writing of C.S. Lewis.

Last year, I used my free time posts, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday afternoons (EST) to correspond with that day’s devotion in the book.  I am picking a day that I did not use last year.

Discussion

In this devotion, derived by taking a bit of this chapter from Letters to Malcom, C.S. Lewis builds on this introductory paragraph to encourage people to do “imaginative prayer.”  He does not say “imaginary prayer.”  That would be prayer that does not really exist.

But if we can use our limited imagination for such things as the crucifixion.  Whatever we can imagine, the reality would be far worse, in most cases.  Someone who has experienced shortness of breath might come close if the means to get a full breath is extremely painful.  But then, endure that for hours.  As Lewis suggests, we cannot imagine that, but we should try in order to get a glimpse of what Jesus went through to save me.  I say “me” in that we need to personalize it.  Christ died to save me.

But on a happier note, Jesus is no longer nailed to the tree.  He is in heaven with the Father, at the Father’s right hand.  We can also try to imagine the best of the best, the most glorious experience in our lives.  Now multiply that by a thousand, no a trillion, and we still have not imagined what heaven will be like.

Now let’s imagine ourselves in dire circumstances here on earth, but then imagine the greatest strongman is by our side, and no matter what comes at us, the strongman fends off each foe.

Jesus died on the cross, and it was not an easy death.  Let us worship and thank Him.  Heaven is better than anything we can imagine.  Let us Praise and glorify God.  And God is stronger than any strongman.  Let us trust Him.  Imaginative prayer comes from the heart and connects us with God, even if our imagination falls short.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.