Dear All,
I’d like to share some thoughtful words written by one of my favourite writers, progressive New Testament Theologian Marcus J. Borg in his book ‘The God we never knew’:
“God wills our liberation, our exodus from Egypt. God wills our reconciliation, our return from exile. God wills our enlightenment, our seeing… In short, God wills our salvation, our healing, here on earth. The Christian life is about participating in the salvation of God.”
For me, this is a fitting thought that is worthy of reflection as we move into the season of Lent during February. This quote invites us to reclaim salvation not as an escape from the world, but as God’s ongoing work within it. The story of faith begins not with abstraction, but with people freed from chains, led out of Egypt and communities restored from exile. We grasp that God’s will is liberation – historically and right now, today, and in concrete, real ways, and in ways that are both communal and deeply personal. We understand that salvation is not postponed to another life; it unfolds here and now, “in the fragile soil of our shared humanity”.
During Lent, we are invited to see more clearly: to notice where we are complicit in bondage, where others remain oppressed, and where God is already stirring freedom. Repentance, then, is not self-loathing but reorientation—turning again toward justice, mercy, and healing. Enlightenment is learning to see our neighbours as beloved, and ourselves as participants in God’s reconciling love.
To live the Christian life is to join this movement of salvation: to walk alongside those seeking freedom, to bring healing where there has been harm, and to trust that God’s work of restoration is wider than we could ever imagine. Lent calls us not to withdrawal, but to deeper participation in the saving work of love for all people and indeed, for the whole of creation.
With much love,
A blessing for Lent:
Now may God, who gives seed to the sower and grain to the reaper, provide all that we need so that we may produce a rich harvest of faith, freedom, love, justice and joy for the good of the earth and its people, and to the glory of God. Amen.
© The Iona Community - Iona Abbey Worship Book