Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing

During Advent I recommended the book “All Creation Waits”, a daily devotional centered around lives of animals that wait for spring. With a wide range of animals but all animals that you could find in your backyard, or town. From squirrels, to frogs, to turtles, there were fun facts and short stories to accompany each animal. As we get closer to Lent I have another book recommendation to accompany your Lenten practices. “Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing” by Gayle Boss.

This book gives four animals each week of Lent with short stories on each, similar to the first book. There are also special readings for Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. However, like the title states, these stories aren’t about hibernation but extinction. Each animal is one of the many on the endangered species list. From the Amur Leopard to the Indiana Bat, the North-Atlantic Right Whale to the Laysan Albatross, we are invited through stories to reflect on how God calls us into this world. A reminder of how God has created all things and we are to be stewards of this beautiful world that God has made for us.

During Lent this year we will be focusing on Saints of the United States. Learning through scripture and example how we are called individually towards God’s plan, and collectively as the body of Christ. Similar to the Catholic Church we Lutherans also are called into veneration of the Saints. What this means is that we respect them, learn from them, and at times ask them for guidance just as we would for a role model. We don’t worship them, but we hold services centered around how God worked wondrous things through these
people. People, who in many more ways, are just like us.

I encourage all of us, this Lent, to listen to how God is calling us through the saints that have gone before us and through creation that is still around us. To listen for the still beating heart of our God in all that is around us. For the whispers in the trees like Elisha waited for his message through the storms. May we be present for Christ this Lent in a way we haven’t before.

Pax et Bonum,
Pastor Tucker, n/OLF

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