{"id":8546,"date":"2022-02-18T21:03:12","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T21:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?p=8546"},"modified":"2022-02-22T19:54:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T19:54:14","slug":"the-last-pandemic-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2022\/02\/18\/the-last-pandemic-lent\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Pandemic Lent?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ash Wednesday is coming up in just a few days, marking the beginning of the third straight Lenten season we\u2019ve spent at least partially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

In 2020, our Lenten observances were interrupted suddenly by the news that a new virus had appeared and was spreading rapidly. Those were frightening days. Remember disinfecting your groceries? Or rushing to move church online\u2014small groups, worship services, council meetings\u2014with no advance warning? It gave Lent a sort of turbo-charged quality, what I called then \u201cthe \u2018Lentiest\u2019 Lent<\/a>\u201d of my lifetime. The shock of the crisis gave special poignancy to the words of Ash Wednesday: \u201cRemember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the next year, the pandemic had become almost routine\u2014a long, exhausting slog. We were tired of meeting each other through tiny screens. Some were making hesitant returns to the pews; others feared that things would never go \u201cback to normal.\u201d It almost felt as if the entire year had been an extended Lent, with only guesses as to what the future might hold.<\/p>\n

And now we\u2019re entering Lent yet again. This time, perhaps, there is hope on the horizon. After the Omicron wave that encompassed the globe the past few months, cases are finally beginning to recede. Experts are saying we might at last be moving from a situation in which COVID-19 is an acute pandemic to an endemic virus that circulates seasonally, similar to other colds and flus. We\u2019re not out of the woods yet, but it is possible\u2014even likely\u2014that the world is about to change yet again.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t this the way of things? Isn\u2019t this what the experience of Lent, and the promise of Easter\u2019s coming, is all about?<\/p>\n

Whether we are experiencing the life-altering thunderbolt of sudden trauma, the long, difficult \u201cdark night of the soul,\u201d or at last turning the corner toward something hopeful and new, we can know that we are accompanied by Jesus through it all. For he has gone before us, and he is redeeming whatever is happening now through his suffering, death, and resurrection.<\/p>\n

May you be comforted by the presence of Christ throughout your Lenten journey\u2014whatever comes next.<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Robin J. Steinke, President
\nLuther Seminary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ash Wednesday is coming up in just a few days, marking the beginning of the third straight Lenten season we\u2019ve spent at least partially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, our Lenten observances were interrupted suddenly by the news that a new virus had appeared and was spreading rapidly. Those were frightening […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newsletter","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Last Pandemic Lent? - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2022\/02\/18\/the-last-pandemic-lent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Last Pandemic Lent? - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ash Wednesday is coming up in just a few days, marking the beginning of the third straight Lenten season we\u2019ve spent at least partially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. 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