Christian Grandfather Magazine wishes to apologize to both Derek Maul, and our readers, for not having this Shrove Tuesday article posted March 1, 2022.
This Year, Let’s Give Easter Our Full Attention, Starting With Shrove Tuesday
Recently a friend asked me if, with springtime coming up, I had any informative teachings I could share around the subject of Easter.
I had to laugh, because it sounded like one of those “soft ball” questions that get teed up for authors when they’re interviewed to promote their latest book. You see, I have had those interviews – both as a reporter and an author – and I have written that book!
My text is a series of devotional readings designed to help us celebrate Easter with our eyes fixed on Jesus. Too often we watch our children and grandchildren wave Palm Sunday branches, and then we sail through Christ’s passion and resurrection without engaging the transformation God intends for us to experience.
This is why my teaching around Easter is about taking a journey, a pilgrimage if you will, all the way through the season of Lent beginning with Shrove Tuesday. Something worthwhile is worthy of intention, deliberation, and personal discipline; the meaning of Easter is no exception.
My church growing up was not just Protestant, it was militantly “not Catholic”! Anything remotely resembling ritual, tradition, litany, or overt religiosity was thrown out on principle. Consequently, we didn’t recognize Advent, Lent, Epiphany, All Saints Day and more. Talk about missed opportunity.
Today, however, I am learning to appreciate the value of walking familiar spiritual pathways; in particular, the discipline of drawing closer to God during seasons such as Lent. This has helped me to appreciate Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter on a new level.
My Lenten devotional, Reaching Toward Easter[1][2], begins the day before Ash Wednesday with Shrove Tuesday, and follows John’s deeply insightful account of the Last Supper through most of the text.
I’d like to invite you to walk with me this year, to join me on the dusty road to Jerusalem, to engage Jesus in conversation along the way, and to arrive at the cross with a new understanding of how Easter must continue to transform us, every year, and lead us into a life of renewed hope, promise, love, and passion for the Good News.
If we are Easter people, doesn’t it make sense to engage Christ’s passion with our full attention?
Derek Maul
___________
Derek Maul is a North Carolina-based writer, journalist, teacher and speaker. He is the author of numerous books on what the Bible reveals as essential in becoming a man of God.
As Granddaddy he is convinced that his four grandchildren are exactly the hope and promise that this world needs. His conviction is important to understand because it reveals a lot about his theology, and how he believes our identity as God’s children plays out in the day-to-day experience of living in a world where darkness, disappointment, and defeat are all too common.
He is a committed encourager, and a pilgrim in progress. He divides his time between writing and traveling to speak about the fully engaged life. His passion is to connect people – men and women – with a more vibrant, authentic experience of what he calls “The Life-Charged Life.”
If you would like to read more, check out his author page at Amazon. Also check out his website and daily blog.
Reading between the Lines, With Derek Maul is published every Wednesday on Christian Grandfather Magazine.
0 Comments