On Ash Wednesday, Christians around the world began a 40-day period of prayer, contemplation and self-examination that the church calls Lent.

The ancient practice of the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday is a reminder that we are God’s beloved dust. And to dust we shall return.

The creation story tells us that God made all of us out of soil. All God’s creatures are made in the loving image of God. All beings are wonderfully-made and we are elementally related to one another.

God’s breath gave us life.
God’s breath is our life energy.

Lent is a season of attention, compassion, & truth-telling.

Lent invites us to honesty about our hopes, our questions, our struggles, and those places where God’s grace is present.

It is a time to reflect on how to be present to others and the problems around us in a new and fresh way.

Lent is not a time to go over all the ways we have sinned or failed or fallen short of the mark.

It is a time to remember who we are.

It is a time to embrace all that it means to be human. 
In our hunger.
In our vulnerability.
In our original nature as God’s beloved.

Jesus tells us to look around and be concerned about the well-being of the human community and all life on earth, in the air, in the waters, and to find ways to help.

Do what you can to care for and love your neighbor as yourself.

Be in solidarity with the most vulnerable among us and those who are being persecuted.

In this season, rest with God.
Be present to God.

May it be so. Amen.