Primer on Seasons & Lent
What do we mean by “Seasons”?
Each year, Christ-followers hike through a circle of memory and expectation to open themselves to the presence of God. This circle is made up of special days and seasons. These special days and seasons are a means to shape sacred time, a structure in which to define what it means to be Christian and to call God’s people to respond to God’s loving and faithful presence. Keeping seasons of time with the Christian calendar helps us remember and re-tell the story of Christ’s redemption year after year.
What is the Season of Lent?
Lent means “to lengthen” and is a 40 day journey of following Jesus toward the cross. This year, it is from March 5 - April 19, 2025. Originating in the 4th century of the church, the season of Lent spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday, and climaxing during Holy Week with Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and concluding Saturday before Easter. Originally, Lent was the time of preparation for those who were to be baptized..a time of concentrated study and prayer before their baptism on Easter during the celebration of the Resurrection of the Christ. But since these new members were to be received into a living community of Faithful Practice, the entire community was also called to a season of preparation.
Lent is a deliberate way for worshippers to “lengthen the soul” through various practices in preparation for death & Resurrection—for baptism & Easter. Let’s Practice the Seasons Together…
What do we mean by “Practices”?
As part of the Table fam, we try to embody practices rather than only ascribe to ideas. Practices root us in everyday relationships with the Christ, to ourselves, with each other, and in the world.
Practices are embodied responses of a Jesus follower.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES COULD BE CALLED LIFE PRACTICES OR HUMANE PRACTICES, BECAUSE THEY HELP US PRACTICE BEING ALIVE, AND HUMANELY SO.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES ARE ABOUT LIFE, ABOUT TRAINING OURSELVES TO BECOME THE KINDS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE EYES AND ACTUALLY SEE, AND WHO HAVE EARS AND ACTUALLY HEAR, AND SO EXPERIENCE...NOT JUST SURVIVAL BUT LIFE.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES ARE WAYS OF BECOMING AWAKE AND STAYING AWAKE TO GOD. - B. Mclaren
What do we mean by “Common Table Practices”?
We call each other to live out our Vocation to S.E.T. the Table of Christ for renewal in Portlandia, ME, and all of creation. Our common practices are:
Ø S – SLOWING (Encounter Christ’s Presence). = We will practice SLOWING down our pace in daily, weekly, and seasonal rhythms to encounter the Presence of Christ with us.
Ø E – EATING & DRINKING (Embody Christ’s Presence). = We are gathering around the Lord’s Table during corporate worship to practice EATING & DRINKING the life, death, and resurrection of Christ (Eucharist). We are also gathering around all kinds of tables throughout the week to embody Christ’s presence as we practice EATING & DRINKING Eucharistic food & beverages with one another.
Ø T – TRUSTING (Extend Christ’s Presence). = We are TRUSTING in Christ’s commission as we practice being sent out as guests into our daily spheres of influence to join with the Spirit in extending Christ’s Table Presence. We are also TRUSTING in God’s Table economy by generously sharing our specific presence (time/talents/treasures) with neighbors, those who are displaced, and with the land.
What do we mean by “Specific-Seasonal” Practices?
During each season of the Church Calendar, we invite the Table fam to consider specific ways of enfleshing our S.E.T. Vocation/common practices through:
- SLOWING Practices like: [Silence, Solitude, Sabbath, Scripture/Sacred Reading, Study, Spiritual Direction, Strolls, Prayer, Retreats, etc.]
- EATING & DRINKING Practices like: [Corporate Worship Gatherings, Home Table Groups, Hospitality, Happy Hours, Sharing Gifts & Resources, Confession, Forgiveness, Feasting, etc.]
- TRUST Practices like: [Tangible Blessings, Fasting, Simplicity, Partnerships, Service, Alms Giving, Generosity, Justice Initiatives, Pilgrimage Trips, etc.]
What is the Table community practicing during the Season of Lent 2025?
— 40 Days of SLOWING down through Monkish Prayers —
During Lent, we are being invited to practice a SLOWING art-form of Prayer that Saints from the Old Testament, the early Christians, and desert mothers/fathers would have practiced. Each Sunday during the Sermon portion of our Worship Gathering, the Teacher will model a Monkish Prayer practice based on Scripture and the book Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton. We invite Table members to consider continuing the practice of Monkish Prayers with a group of folks in a Tiny Table throughout the week.
Forms of Monkish Prayers: Adoration + Confession + Intercession + Lament + Petition + Silence.
Prayer is, without a doubt, the source of Jesus’ most astounding promises. And yet, most people, even most Bible-believing Christians, find little life in prayer. Prayer is boring or obligatory or confusing or, most often, all of the above. Prayer is more than just listing requests, though. Prayer is an invitation to learn to listen to God before speaking, to ask like a child in your old age, to scream your questions in an angry tirade, to undress yourself in vulnerable confession, and to be loved, completely and totally loved, in spite of everything.
Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools is an invitation to discover the life-giving relationship promised to us and won on our behalf by Jesus. - T. Staton
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
As we practice 40 Days of SLOWING down through Monkish Prayers, may Christ’s Spirit also open us to further the practice of EATING & DRINKING a sacramental meal/snack/beverage together AND open us up to practice experimental forms of TRUST.
More about Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools:
Visit www.tylerstaton.com/praying-like-monks-living-like-fools
See www.tablecommunitychurch.org/practices-1-1