Love and ashes don't often go together in our minds. But this time of year, it's the ashes that remind me of what Jesus tried to teach us about love.
In Lent we remember the great truth: It's not all about us.
Each Lent I feel myself called back to community, both human and divine, by that message. And when that calling comes, so does the reminder of those two commands of Christ: Love God, and love others as you love yourself.
For centuries Christians have undertaken a form of Lenten discipline, which is to say a practice that will in some way turn their hearts to Christ and prepare them for the new life that comes with Easter.
For many, Lent is a time to give something up: meat or candy or Facebook. But Lent doesn't have to just be about giving up. In fact, at its best it isn't. Because if our Lenten discipline is only about us, and what we will allow ourselves, we miss the point.
Instead, what if we embrace Lent as an opportunity to show our love for God and others? We spend so much time focused on ourselves and on our own needs, but what if we use these forty days to focus on something else? What if we take these days and dedicate each to reminding ourselves that it's not about us as individuals, but it's about God, and it's about all of us together?
When we start doing this, the daily walk turns into an opportunity for prayer. The trip to the grocery store yields a few more cans of soup for the food pantry. And a few extra dollars turn into donation that makes a difference. We don't have to turn the world on its axis. We simply have to turn our attention outward, and make the small things matter in big ways.
This is my challenge to myself, but I'd like to offer it to others who are journeying this Lenten path.
Here's how it works: Each day I want to do at least one thing that either strengthens my connection with God, or shows my love for my neighbor.
In the end, my hope is to have 40 days of growing closer to God, and of trying to honor the commandment of love that Christ gave us. Along the way, I hope that I might make things a little better for some folks around me too. Not because it will make me a better person, but because it will be a tangible reminder of Christ's love for others. I've had plenty of blessings in my life, and plenty of grace from God. Lent can be a journey of recognizing those blessings, and blessing others. Because it's not a journey that's about me.