Ash Wednesday

Well, I've been away for a while.  Sorry about that.  Today was Ash Wednesday is Western Churches- the first day of Lent.  This is a great opportunity for increased focus on God and repentance through the use of spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, Scripture reading.  Don't forget about the other disciplines though.  Hospitality, giving- maybe even volunteering at a shelter are also great ways to focus inward and upward during this season.  Investments made in our relationship with God and others is the only thing that will last.

And that brings me to another important aspect of Lent.  You will die.  I will die. 

 "You will become dust. The worms will eat you."

Sometimes in the modern age of medicine, we lose sight of this fact.  It's easy to feel invincible sometimes when we're young.  Be we're not invincible.  Everyone is one breath- one heartbeat away from death.  One microscopic blood clot can cut short a life in an instant.  

Sorry for such a dreary post.  But the upside is that when we embrace our mortality- as Steve Brown says "kiss the demon on its lips"- then we are driven to focus on what's really important in life.  Relationship with a God Who we will meet at death- a God who has conquered death and will make all things new one day.