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Palm Sunday Reflection by Grant Hagiya


As a Christian, Lent has always been the most visibly active season of the church year for me. It is the time when we can actively model Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness where he is tempted by Satan, and it set the stage for his whole public ministry. In the past few years, I have been struck by the importance of Lent to the younger staff people that I have worked with. Mostly, Generation X and Millennials, they have taken Lent quite seriously and attempt to give up significant personal sacrifices: social media, desserts, and my favorite: Mountain Dew! We had relevant talks about what we were giving up, and the discussions were deep and spiritual. More impressive to me was when instead of giving up something for Lent, we agreed to do something, or take on something of importance to our local communities.


Among these commitments were giving 40 hours to the homeless shelter, organizing the collection of over 2,000 food items for the food-deprived, and organizing more than 40 people to build a house for Habitat for Humanity! These acts of mercy and justice embody being present in the world and making a transforming difference. It moves us from making an individual personal sacrifice to meeting the very needs of a hurting world!


From the ideological and theological polarization of our nation, a brutal war in Europe that is being waged for selfish nationalism, and a climate crisis that humanity has created that continues to eradicate God’s created species, what the world needs most of all is the compassion and love to do something proactive to make a difference. It must start with each one of us and our internal commitment to being better, and then actively demonstrating our love and compassion to the world. Just as it started with these young committed Christian staff members, it was taking Lent seriously, and it leads to making a real difference in our neighborhoods. If enough of us follow their lead, we can collectively make a transforming difference in our whole world!


May we be this Lenten hope for our world!



 

Grant Hagiya is currently serving as President ad Interim of the Claremont School of Theology, bringing over 25 years of denominational leadership and seminary education to his role. Before beginning this role at CST, he served as the Resident Bishop of the California-Pacific Annual Conference and the Desert Southwest Annual Conference. Elected to the Episcopacy in 2008, he served for eight years in the Greater Northwest Annual Conference. He is a graduate of Claremont School of Theology, where he received M.A., M.Div., and D.Min. Degrees. He graduated with an Educational Doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University in 2012.

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