Lent Journey - 2016Sample

ASH WEDNESDAY

DAILY THOUGHT: BELOVED DUST

Many of us today will have our foreheads crossed with ashes. It is a stark reminder that we came from dust and one day will return to dust. It is useful for us to remember this, especially when we get over-preoccupied with how we look, what we own and what others think about us. We are not going to be around on this earth forever. Knowing this, as someone once famously said, concentrates our minds wonderfully.

Yet, the fact that we are marked with a cross reminds us of another even greater reality. In the words of Paul, we are God’s beloved and nothing, not even our death, can separate us from God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. We are beloved dust.

DAILY PRACTICE:
Go outside sometime and pick up a handful of soil. As you do this, consider two powerful symbols: dust and the cross. This is who we are. We are fallen, fragile, fallible human beings redeemed by God’s love in Christ Jesus. Before going to bed, read the closing words of Romans 8:31–38. Keep these words close to you as drift off to sleep.