So it begins

Ash Wednesday. The beginning of a six week journey, 40 days, in which to pray, think, fast, and do works of love and mercy. A time of deep repentance and reflection. A time of suffering but with the hope of resurrection at the end. Lent always presents itself to me as a time of discipline.

I never liked the imposition of ashes, even as child it seemed frightening to me. From dust you came and to dust you shall return. I don't want to think about dying and yet here I am doing a CPE residency and doing a lot of ministry with dying veterans and their families. Ash Wednesday is one of the reasons I love being a Christian...the whole Lenten season is. Christians are Easter people, resurrection people. Even as we stand today at Ash Wednesday and begin a long and prayerful journey into Easter we stand with resurrection in our hearts. But what do we do during this Lenten season?

The color for Lent is purple.
Forty days of purple.
Forty days of wrestling with decisions:
How will I spend my life?
What will I give up?
What will I take on?
Forty days for the forty years
The Israelites wandered
In the wilderness:
When will I come home?
Where is my source?
Forty days of fasting,
Moses becoming a prophet:
What am I called to do? Who am I called to be?
Where will I find the strength
to do it? To be who I am?
Forty days of testing and prayer,
Jesus preparing for his ministry:
What is my purpose?
Who or what is my authority?
Forty days and forty hours
In a tomb:
What does it mean to sacrifice?
Forty days of preparation
For Easter:
In the midst of my searching,
I will be sought.
In the despair of my questioning,
I will be heard.
Resurrection waits.
~ Susan Ross (adapted)