The Meaning of Forty: A Lenten Invitation

Dear Southport Congregational Church,

There’s a lot of symbolism in the bible. For example, any time scripture mentions water, it’s a safe bet there’s a connection to baptism. Any time scripture mentions fire, it’s a safe bet there’s a connection to the Holy Spirit. This symbolism isn’t limited to physical things; it also includes numbers. There are seven days of creation, seven churches listed in Revelation, and seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, and Jacob even had twelve sons. Needless to say, biblical numbers are important.

During the season of Lent, the number that is prominently meaningful is 40. There are 40 days in the season of Lent (excluding Sundays) which coincide with the 40 years of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness and the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by the enemy. Wednesday February 18 marks the first day of Lent. So, 40 days from the 18th (excluding Sundays) we will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.

The first day of Lent is traditionally known as Ash Wednesday. According to The Worship Sourcebook, the aim of Ash Wednesday is threefold:

To meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior; to renew our commitment to daily repentance; and to remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and it does so by reminding us of our mortality and pointing us towards Jesus. It seems ironic because we live in a world that tries to hide our mortality and yet at the same time brutally reminds us of our mortality as well. Commercials attempt to sell us products to keep us young forever, yet national and global headlines remind us of death and pain constantly.

I remember feeling this irony in a painful way in the spring of 2015. I was serving as a resident chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Along with a few other chaplains, we stood in the atrium on the first floor of the hospital and offered ashes to anyone who desired them. As I gently marked the sign of the cross on individuals’ foreheads and said, “from dust you were created and to dust you shall return” the irony of the moment settled in. Nurses, doctors, therapists, visitors, parents and patients in a children’s hospital don’t need another reminder of their own mortality. They are working and sometimes living in a facility that reminds them of their own mortality every day. Ash Wednesday graciously reminds us that from dust we are created and to dust we shall return (Ecc. 3:20), but at the same time it points us to everlasting life in Christ.

This is all to say, how will you spend these 40 days? I hope you create some space in your life to reflect on your own mortality. I hope you take the time to humbly and graciously acknowledge mishaps or wrongdoings. I hope you anticipate the celebration of resurrection that will occur on Easter Sunday. And I hope you seek to embrace a life of righteousness and faithfulness with God.

Grace & Peace,
Rev. Dr. Mark Waterstone

Are You a Thermometer or a Thermostat?

Dear Southport Congregational Church,

After worship on Sunday, I needed to make a quick run to Stop N’ Shop to get a few last-minute lunch items. While I drove, I heard an interesting question on the radio. The host asked: are you a thermometer or a thermostat? It was an intriguing question, and they immediately had my attention. The radio host then offered a lengthy explanation. Here’s the shorthand version: A thermometer tells you how warm or cold it is in a given environment while a thermostat tells the environment how warm or cold it should be. Some individuals live their life as a thermometer reacting and responding to the environment around them while other individuals live their life as a thermostat influencing their surrounding environment. Do you see the difference?

Today is Tuesday January 6. Welcome to a new day and a new year. With the coming of a new year there will undoubtedly be the question, “what’s your New Year’s resolution?” Maybe you already have one, maybe you haven’t even thought of one, or maybe you’re looking for one. If that’s the case, consider this:

I know plenty of people that live like a thermometer. They have reactions to everything. One day they are high and the other they are low. One day they are joyful and the other they are miserable. They are constantly changing depending on what environment they are placed in. On the other hand, I know few people who live like a thermostat. Those individuals who are secure in their identity and emotionally healthy regardless of their surroundings. Instead of yo-yoing back and forth between extremes they find a balanced place of peace.

We’re on solid theological ground to at least consider if this is one aspect of what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote these words in the fourth chapter of his letter to the Ephesians: 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Paul is speaking to Christians who are living like thermometers. A thermometer Christian is tossed back and forth by the waves, blown here and there by every wind of teaching, and traveling from one extreme to the next in the blink of an eye. A thermostat Christian will faithfully and consistently grow and mature into Christ who is our rock-solid Cornerstone.

As you enter the first few weeks of 2026, I’d encourage you to do some self-reflection. Consider those places where you are functioning more like a thermometer than a thermostat. Perhaps, in a quiet moment of prayer or study we might ask God for the discipline and patience to faithfully grow and mature into Christ.

Grace & Peace,
Rev. Dr. Mark Waterstone