Lenten Thought of the Week: Putting It All Together
Tony’s Lenten Thoughts are responsive to Pastor Will’s Sunday sermons. Linked here, you’ll find the corresponding sermon for this week’s Lenten Thought.
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Dear Friends,
Welcome to the fifth and final week of our Lenten reflection series. Over the past several weeks, we have been traveling together, examining what we carry and how we move through the world with intention, awareness, and care. Each week, Rev. Will invited us to reflect on our habits and the technologies that shape us. This has always been—and continues to be—an invitation: not to shame or restrict, but to help us ask deeper questions about what leads to life and to choose ways of living that are more rooted, intentional, and life-giving.
In Week 1, we considered the news: the flood of information that often overwhelms our attention and emotions. We invited you to practice news fasting with intention, asking, will this inform me or inflame me? How can I use this for building the kingdom of heaven?
In Week 2, we turned to social media and reflected on how it shapes the way we know and are known by one another. Anchored by Philippians 3:1, we explored what it means to bring a posture of joy—not passive happiness, but a steady, intentional joy rooted in Christ—to our online interactions.
In Week 3, we were invited into a countercultural fast: to pause our instant consumption, especially through Amazon and online shopping. This was not framed as punishment, but as a form of awakening—a spiritual practice of letting go to make space for what truly nourishes.
In Week 4, we turned to AI: artificial intelligence and explored how it reflects the theological significance of questioning. Jesus himself asked nearly 300 questions in the Gospels, modeling a way of engaging with others that invites depth, curiosity, and transformation. We were reminded that AI, like any tool, can amplify what we bring to it—so let us bring our best, most faithful selves.
This week, I invite you to take a moment and look back. Which of these reflections resonated most with you? Which practice or challenge stayed with you—and which one might still be nudging you forward? We still have 12 days left in Lent. You can begin or return to any of these reflections at any time. But more importantly, after Lent, these practices do not have to end. The questions we have asked—about how we consume, connect, and create—can continue to shape a life that is more intentional, more just, and more rooted in love.
Here are a few questions to carry into this final stretch of Lent:
1) What habits or assumptions have I begun to question more deeply?
2) Where have I experienced a shift—from consumption to reflection, from reaction to joy, from resistance to curiosity?
3) What is one small commitment I want to carry beyond Lent, as a way of continuing to live as a new creation?
Prayer for the Journey:
God of the long road, thank you for walking with us through this season—a journey that began with the dust of ashes and has carried us toward the hope of resurrection. Give us courage to continue letting go of what no longer gives life, and to embrace what draws us closer to You and to one another. Make us new, again and again. Amen.
If you have a thought to share or questions to ask for all of us, I encourage you to post a reflection.
Blessings on your journey,
Tony
PS: If you missed any of Rev. Will's sermons, you can check them out on our YouTube Channel or on Apple Podcasts.
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