Feb. 17, 2010

DEVOTION: Ash Wednesday

By Beth Bondurant

We mark the beginning of our season of Lent today and many will gather in both small and large groups to receive the symbol of the cross... brushed in ashes upon their forehead. Though these ashes are quickly washed away... for 40 more days one prepares to remember God's redemptive love and grace which culminates in the celebration of Easter.

As numerous as snow flakes that pile up on every twig and branch, ashes of regret mark our realization that life is full of heaviness clinging to heart, mind, body and spirit... and we contemplate the amazing gift of God's unconditional love and grace in the message of the cross... the meaning of our faith... the purpose for our living... to "love God with all our heart, mind, body and spirit and to love one another as God loves us".

No matter how torn apart our life may seem...
      though we see the misery and pain heaped upon the world around us...
           even when we feel abandoned and alone... unworthy to be loved...
                when tragedy and grief encompass our head... heart and hands...

Ash Wednesday comes as a reminder that God's love triumphs over all the world.

Nothing is beyond God's redemptive power of grace.

Wholeness and healing continually reveal that GOD IS WITH US.

With God.. nothing is impossible.

What appears to end in death and destruction is made new every morning.
Our season of Lent is an intentional way to remember and rejoice... to listen and meditate... to learn and study... to give of self and give of love... as God has so freely poured out in forgiveness and hope... kindness and goodness... patience and peace... and is perfecting in you and me and the world around us... love that never ends.

Let snow fall today... raindrops splatter... sleet keep pounding... sunbeams burn through the sky and be covered over with the elements of day to day challenges ... touched with ashes of God's unending grace... marking you as God's beloved.