Seeking God East of Eden

In the first Sunday of Lent, Phil Kniss, lead pastor of the Park View Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, VA., told the congregation that "we do Lent, not for the rituals, but out of spiritual necessity." It is a time when we take a certain posture toward God, a posture of emptiness before God so that we can experience God's grace. Drawing from the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, he said we are still living "east of Eden," still living in a world of work, disease and environmental deterioration. And while we are tempted, like Jesus to "skip the wilderness temptations," we need to return to our dependence on God, to wake up from the stupor of our self-oriented culture, repent of our sins and turn toward God, the source of all life.