Opening Prayer: Gracious God, today begins a period of inner
reflection and examination. The days stretch before me and invite me inward to
that silent, holy space that holds your Spirit. This special time beckons me to
see my life through Christ's eyes and the truth and reality of your love
incarnate. Give me the grace to enter the space of these days with anticipation
of our meeting. And, when I open my soul to your presence, let your loving
kindness flow over me and seep into the pockets of my heart. I ask this for the
sake of your love.
Scripture: Joel 2:12-17
Journal: What do the words of the Scriptures today do in
you? What does returning to God
mean to you today? What does it mean to
you this season? What do you need to
leave behind?
Reflection:
In Christian tradition, one of the most solemn days
of the church year is Ash Wednesday, when believers enter a season of
preparation for Easter by confronting their own mortality. That this season lasts forty days is no
mistake. Those who follow Jesus are
meant to follow him into the wilderness, where they too may be tested.
For me, at least, the peak of the service
comes when the priest invites the congregation forward to the altar rail to
receive ashes on our foreheads. Those of
us who have done it before know that we are being invited to our own
funerals. Kneeling shoulder to shoulder
at the rail, we wait our turn, hearing the priest say to others what will soon
be said to us. “Remember that you are
dust, and to dust you shall return,” the priest says to me, making the sign of
the cross on my forehead.
Because she has just dipped her thumb in
the cup of ashes, I get the full dose.
Extra ashes fall on the bridge of my nose. I worry for a moment about how silly I will
look when I stand up and turn around.
Then I get the sudden urge to ask for more, to ask for a whole bowl of
ashes on my head. But it is not yet my
turn for a whole bowl. For now, all I
get is a taste of death, while there is still time to say please and thank you
to the Giver of all life.
Popular religion focuses so hard on
spiritual success that most of us do not know the first thing about the
spiritual fruits of failure. When we
fall ill, lose our jobs, wreck our marriages, or alienate our children, most of
us are left alone to pick up the pieces. Even those of us who are ministered to by
brave friends can find it hard to shake the shame of getting lost in our
lives. And yet if someone asked us to
pinpoint the times in our lives that changed us for the better, a lot of those
times would be wilderness times. (An Altar in the World by
Barbara Brown Taylor)
Prayer
Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, as we enter this season of Lent,
give us the courage and the strength to fully face both our sinfulness and our
great need of your mercy and grace. May
these next days and weeks help us to see the high cost of our sin, and the
unfathomable depths of your love. In
your name we pray. Amen
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