Lent 2022: Ash Wednesday.

It’s that time of year again, when millions of Christians worldwide commit to 40 days of fasting, prayer, tithing, and reflection. It’s also time for me to commit to being a regular blogger. So join me, won’t you, as I prepare for Easter, one day and post, at a time. Today, this devotional from Forward Day by Day:

Psalm 103:14 For he himself knows whereof we are made; he remembers that we are but dust.

My family grew wheat on our farm, and I loved to watch it grow from seeds to new, green shoots to beautiful golden blades that swayed delicately in a soft breeze. The wheat field seemed like a carpet that blanketed the earth with its inimitable hue. Then came the harvest.

The psalmist describes the flowers in a field that flourish and then are no more. One day, our bodily lives on this earth will end like the flowers and the wheat. But it is not really our end. We remember, as God remembers, how we were made.

“Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” We hear these words spoken on Ash Wednesday as we prepare for Lent, a time to reflect on and remember our mortality.

God’s love for us is everlasting and transcends our mortal existence. We were created by God, and we will return to God.

A return to dust is a return to God.