A Lenten Journey: Travels in the Spiritual Life Based on the Gospel of Mark

by Larry R. Kalajainen

A Lenten Journey offers daily meditations and spiritual exercises to use throughout Lent and Holy Week. A Lenten Journey uses both ancient and modern devotional practices in order to recover resources... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0835806162
• ISBN13: 9780835806169
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Upper Room Books
• Length: 127 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.3" x 10.7"

Customer Reviews

Valuable Aid for Progessing Down the Path of Discipleship

United Methodist pastor Larry Kalajainen serves as a reader's short-term spiritual director in his A Lenten Journey workbook (1990), an invitation for Christians to journey down the road of discipleship. Using Mark's gospel as his text (understandably skipping the probably non-Markan verses after Mark 16:8, but inexplicably leaving out a few sections in Mark 14 and 15 as well), Kalajainen conceives of his "travels in the spiritual life" (to quote part of the workbook's subtitle) as a developing journey for his readers not unlike that of the blind man in Mark 8, who receives healing in a two-stage process. In other words, he expects his readers' understanding to grow over time, and not without struggle, with the two most crucial questions for the reader/disciple being who Jesus is and what this means for the disciple. Indeed, by the end of the study, Kalajainen hopes that the reader will commit his or her entire life to Christ using a covenant written by John Wesley. This journey consists of chapters meant to be completed daily in what eventually amounts to an in-depth spiritual journal. Kalajainen begins with a classically Christian quote, hymn, or prayer as a prereading exercise. He next delves into the Scripture text for the day, giving a very brief commentary. The main section of the chapter follows in which the reader is asked to respond to the text using the author's directed questions. Another more detailed time of prayer follows, with Kalajainen initially prescribing a form of centering prayer but later inviting silence and directed prayer focusing on spiritual application of what has been learned. Each chapter ends with suggestions for applying the daily lessons in the world around the reader. There is definitely a sense of progression in the workbook, with the author challenging the reader both to go deeper spiritually and to apply insights in everyday living more and more as the days go by. Befitting a workbook designed for the season of Lent, there is a great emphasis on repentance early in the study, although it is mostly absent from later weeks. And this workbook can be used profitably by both new and long-time Christians at any time of year. It is mostly meant for internal growth and personal use, but can be adapted to a small group setting; the author himself provides some suggestions along this line. The study's few weaknesses come from often being repetitive (although that feature in itself goes along with Kalajainen's aforementioned assumptions about his readers and their spiritual growth, which themselves mirror Mark's treatment of the disciples) and perhaps not being as easily adapted to a larger church context as it could be. While now almost two decades old, there is nothing to date A Lenten Journey, and it is highly recommended.