The Rev. Drew Foisie, Vicar
"From the Vicar" monthly article - March 2021
In like a lion, out like a lamb. That’s how the old saying goes anyway. Just how old no one knows for sure. The earliest reference may be that which is found in Thomas Fuller’s 1732 compendium, Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British. In addition to the aforementioned saying it has several others, such as, “So many mists in March you see / So many frost in May will be.” Not to mention this gem: “March many-Weathers rain’d and blow’d / But March grass never did good.” That one should, perhaps, stay locked away in Fuller’s compendium. But “In like a lion, out like a lamb” is worth carrying forward. After all, contained within that old seasonal proverb is something very Lenten. And there has never been a March in the last millennia when Lent did not make up a part of it or the whole of it.
By setting aside the meteorological interpretations for a moment the Lenten ones come to the fore. Lent, of course, ends with Easter, and in arriving at the empty tomb and seeing it for what it is, we truly know Jesus to be the Lamb of God. But there’s more to it than that. The proverb also suggests a process; a transformative process of going from one state to another. As anyone who’s tried it will attest, Lent is not always easy but contains the possibility of seeing and being in a new way. Jesus embarking on his wilderness journey in the desert went with a sense strength and confidence in what he knew to be true. He was driven into the wilderness after the Spirit had descended and the heavens parted and God’s voice spoke proclaiming him the Beloved. If that doesn’t give you a sense of lion-like strengthen what will? His journey, however, tested all of his confidences, made him question his commitments, and took him right to the edge. And the ground beneath his feet held. He entered the wilderness a lion, but came out a Lamb.
Sometimes the Lenten wilderness is something we choose, sometimes wilderness is chosen for us or thrust upon us at times we’re least prepared. In either case the single, best word with the power to transform the experience is this: Beloved. It makes it possible to lay down defenses and lift up love and trust. It is the through-line from Jesus’ baptism to resurrection connecting all points in-between. And it is the name God calls us to give to others as freely as God has given it to us.
As the Lenten journey continues may we go in God’s strengthen and be changed by God’s love. May it penetrate the innermost parts of our soul and reveal the truest realities of who we are and what we have to give.
Blessings to you in this holy season.
Yours In Christ,
Drew+
In like a lion, out like a lamb. That’s how the old saying goes anyway. Just how old no one knows for sure. The earliest reference may be that which is found in Thomas Fuller’s 1732 compendium, Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British. In addition to the aforementioned saying it has several others, such as, “So many mists in March you see / So many frost in May will be.” Not to mention this gem: “March many-Weathers rain’d and blow’d / But March grass never did good.” That one should, perhaps, stay locked away in Fuller’s compendium. But “In like a lion, out like a lamb” is worth carrying forward. After all, contained within that old seasonal proverb is something very Lenten. And there has never been a March in the last millennia when Lent did not make up a part of it or the whole of it.
By setting aside the meteorological interpretations for a moment the Lenten ones come to the fore. Lent, of course, ends with Easter, and in arriving at the empty tomb and seeing it for what it is, we truly know Jesus to be the Lamb of God. But there’s more to it than that. The proverb also suggests a process; a transformative process of going from one state to another. As anyone who’s tried it will attest, Lent is not always easy but contains the possibility of seeing and being in a new way. Jesus embarking on his wilderness journey in the desert went with a sense strength and confidence in what he knew to be true. He was driven into the wilderness after the Spirit had descended and the heavens parted and God’s voice spoke proclaiming him the Beloved. If that doesn’t give you a sense of lion-like strengthen what will? His journey, however, tested all of his confidences, made him question his commitments, and took him right to the edge. And the ground beneath his feet held. He entered the wilderness a lion, but came out a Lamb.
Sometimes the Lenten wilderness is something we choose, sometimes wilderness is chosen for us or thrust upon us at times we’re least prepared. In either case the single, best word with the power to transform the experience is this: Beloved. It makes it possible to lay down defenses and lift up love and trust. It is the through-line from Jesus’ baptism to resurrection connecting all points in-between. And it is the name God calls us to give to others as freely as God has given it to us.
As the Lenten journey continues may we go in God’s strengthen and be changed by God’s love. May it penetrate the innermost parts of our soul and reveal the truest realities of who we are and what we have to give.
Blessings to you in this holy season.
Yours In Christ,
Drew+
St Aidan's Episcopal Church
1318 SR532, Camano Island, WA 98282
PO Box 145, Stanwood, WA 98292
Office@StAidansCI.org
(360) 629-3969 ~ Like us on Facebook
Copyright © All rights reserved.
1318 SR532, Camano Island, WA 98282
PO Box 145, Stanwood, WA 98292
Office@StAidansCI.org
(360) 629-3969 ~ Like us on Facebook
Copyright © All rights reserved.