March 2026 Chimes
Pastor’s
Letter
Dear siblings in Christ,
Last Ash Wednesday, Pastor Tim and I and pastor Tim Johansen from Temple Havertown, distributed ashes at Lankenau Hospital in the morning. It was a deeply meaningful experience and profound in many ways.
Afterwards, we decided to grab some lunch at First Watch. And our poor waiter would have been surprised enough to have a table of three people (including a woman!) all in clerics, but then to add to his horror, we all had black crosses on our foreheads.
He didn’t mention anything about it, though, but by the time we were leaving, he’d clearly googled what was going on, because he said to us, very cheerily, “Happy Lent!” We chuckled, and said, “Thank you,” and left, but it got me thinking—what is an appropriate greeting for someone in Lent?
“Happy Lent” isn’t something you’d hear anyone in the church say. Lent is meant to be, if not exactly sad, at least reflective and serious, right? As I thought more about it, though, I remembered one of the possible translations of the Beatitudes, both in Matthew and Luke. It’s not a translation we use in church, so many of us might be unfamiliar with it.
Greek word that is often translated “blessed” can also be translated “happy.” Happy are those who mourn. Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Happy are those who are poor in spirit.
Maybe “happy” is perfect for Lent. Because isn’t that just what we’re doing in this season? Mourning the ways that we are not in right relationship with God and with our neighbors? Hungering and thirsting for righteousness to flow, not just in the world, but in our own lives? Humbling ourselves by taking a true and honest look at the ways we have fallen short?
Recently I saw a reel on Instagram by Kate Bowler, the author of Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved. She made the post to “de-influence Lent” for her followers—to try to name the ways that our culture has skewed our understanding of this season.
“If Lent is a reset…that’s not Lent. If it’s a glow-up or a plan or 40 days to get it together, that’s not Lent. If it promises relief or closure or emotional resolution, that is not Lent. If it expects your grief to behave or your body to cooperate or your longing to quiet down. If Lent is here to fix you or optimize or make you more impressive, that is not Lent.”
Maybe what I appreciated most about her words was that they gave permission for Lent to be what it actually is: not a self-improvement project, not a spiritual boot camp, not a religious version of New Year’s resolutions. Lent is not about finally becoming impressive enough for God.
It is about telling the truth. Telling the truth about our limits. Telling the truth about our grief. Telling the truth about the ways we fall short and the ways the world is broken. And here is the quiet surprise of it all: when we tell the truth, we make space for grace.
Lent does not promise quick relief or tidy answers. But it does promise that God meets us precisely in the ashes. That Christ walks with us in the wilderness. That even in repentance, there is mercy. Even in hunger, there is bread. Even in mourning, there is blessing.
So perhaps “Happy Lent” isn’t as strange as it sounds.
Not happy because everything is fixed. Not happy because suffering disappears. But happy—blessed—because this is a season where we are invited to stop pretending, to lay down our striving, and to trust that God’s love holds us exactly as we are.
May this Lent be honest for you.
May it be gentle.
And may it be blessed.
Pastor Laura
Read the full Chimes HERE.