I was 35 when I enrolled in seminary. As most people would probably assume, I had some personal faith experiences intense enough to prompt a dramatic career change. And yet I still often find myself participating in what God warns against in today's reading from Deuteronomy 8:1-20. "Take care that you do not forget the LORD your God..."
Now by "forgetting" I don't mean that I forget that God exists. Rather my past faith experiences recede far enough into my memory that they no longer move me to act. I take it that this is a common problem, otherwise it would not be such a common biblical theme. When we go through a crisis of faith, identity, purpose, hope, or countless others, we can have profound experiences of God's presence and guidance. But later, when things have calmed down, when God perhaps seems less present, those experiences become wispy memories. They can lose their sense of being "real."
Perhaps this all too common an experience helps explain why there is a regular need for faith renewal, for seasons such as Lent where we reconnect to our own faith stories as well as to the faith story of Scripture. May Lent be a time of renewal for all of us.
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