For those of us who observe Lent, today is a day that we are asked to be brave and remember that some day we will die. It is Ash Wednesday. We remember that we aren’t perfect, and as Christians, we need to renew our awareness that Jesus offered His life in order that we may stumble into God’s light….but not alone. God doesn’t want us to be afraid of failure – but the relentless pressures of life, even the most basic stuff, sometimes feels just like a black smudge right in the middle of my noodle.
So, sometimes I imagine my worst fears, my greatest burdens – I dredge them up and then close my eyes and imagine that I am in a row boat with Jesus. Some days just the undone heaps of laundry are enough to send me into an anxious flurry of worry. But, the boat image – it always helps.
The President of Saint Ambrose University wrote something interesting in an online Lenten reflection:
“The great Psalm 51 is perhaps the ‘classic’ articulation of our awareness of our sinfulness:
‘Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness…For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always.’
We know that we are need of forgiveness: from God, from each other, even from ourselves. In God’s dealings with humanity as seen in the Scriptures, we see that God asks us to DO something in order to show a sincerity in our search for forgiveness.
I also found some related quotes, and have been pouring through some photos which, to me, don’t smack of failure one bit.
“Time is the coin of your life.
You spend it.
Don’t let others spend it for you.”
Carl Sandburg
“Nothing strengthens authority
as much as
silence.”
Leonardo da Vinci
“But as for you,
be strong and
do not give up,
for your work will be rewarded.”
2 Chronicles 15:7
Attendance Please 