March 12

Sarah Flinker has served as waterfront director, SWiM coordinator, and summer assistant director at Camp Fowler. Sarah is currently working for Audubon in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Ephesians 2:1-7

The ways of this world are hard to avoid. They surround our very existence—the angry honks from cars at an intersection, the grumbles in long lines at the post office, encouragement on every corner to splurge on unnecessary luxuries.

The ways of this world, splattered across the Internet, say that you can and should be true to yourself, do what feels good, and don’t let anyone tell you that there’s anything wrong with it. It is not surprising to me that Paul says when we followed the ways of the world we were dead.

You needn’t worry that you are alone in this problem. Paul says “all of us also lived among them at one time.” You are not the first, nor the last, to get sucked in by a world that can be very appealing. But everything Paul says about that is in the past tense. “You were dead.”

God loves us. It is by grace you have been saved.

The ways of this world aren’t going away any time soon, but with God’s grace we can move beyond them. We might still be tempted to gratify the cravings of our flesh, but now we are made alive through grace. And when we see the incomparable riches of that grace, it will give us the strength to stand up against the ways of the world.

Prayer: God, thank you for saving us with your grace. Help us to challenge the ways of this world with our actions. Amen.

The 2015 Lenten reflections were submitted by staff, volunteers, board members, campers, and friends who have spent time at Camp Fowler in New York.

For this year’s Lent devotions, the days follow the Common Lectionary texts. Each author was invited to: 1.Read the passage.
2.Read a couple passages before and after the assigned day.
3.Do something else for the day, keeping the passage in mind.
4.Find a word/phrase/concept that connects with your own experience. Reflect on that.
You are encouraged to do the same.