What is springing out for you in these familiar annual readings?
I always find Ash Wednesday a very comforting service. I appreciate the quiet and the devotion of worshipping with anyone who will come mid week. I am also thankful for the moment, after I receive my ashes, remembering I am but dust, when I look at others and know that they are remembering the same. It is encouraging to start our Lenten journey together, because Lent can easily become a very singular season. We each take on our own discipline, and so pray through our own struggles with it. Ash Wednesday is a time for us to be sacrificial and humble in community.
For our ancestors, fasting was a communal celebration. There were ways for people to uphold and encourage one another. How will we encourage one another in our Lenten fasts and disciplines?
