Ash Wednesday. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Lent is a season to re-center. To get back to the heart of things. To remember and return.
But to what? To our essence. To our divine core. To our truest selves. To the love which, like the air we breathe, sustains us.
Ashes are pure. They are what’s left when the rest is gone. They are evidence that something has gone before. They are essence. Fundamentally part of earth, creation, life. This is a season to return to our essence. To remember who we are. To clear away all that obscures the truest reality we can know.
Our lives are crowded and clouded. Lent brings us home to a pure, simple vision of the Light that cannot be put out.
Lectionary readings for the day:
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Psalm 51: 1-17
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
[These daily readings are from the Consultation on Common Texts.]
Prayer: Show me who I really am. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 
Never thought of ashes this way before – thank you, Kim, for your ever-fresh insights!
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