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Health & Fitness

Ashes to Ashes

What will you give up for Lent? Whatever it is, make it count for something.

Gardeners know that ashes can be used to help grow plants. Aside from this, ashes are basically worthless.  You can't make ashes pretty by painting them, and you can't make ashes smell good by spraying perfume on them. Ashes are just ashes.

And people are just people.  With all our differences, languages and cultures, when all is said and done, we are all just people.  And no matter how much righteous paint we cover ourselves with or how much virtuous perfume we spray on ourselves, what we are left with are the ashes of thoughts, words and deeds, that are often best forgotten.

So why do we begin our Lenten journey tonight by smearing ashes on our foreheads? Why do we gather and remember what we are on Ash Wednesday?

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Because while we gather to remember who we are, we also gather to remember who God is - and what God has done for us in and through Jesus Christ.  The ashes that mark our brows are signs of humble thanks for the new life we have in Christ.  A reminder that Christ gave up his life to redeem our lives from the ash heap.

This is why many Christians give up something pleasurable in Lent.  It is a way of participating with Christ and the selfless act of love, giving up his life for us on the cross.  How many of us are giving up something this Lenten season?

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Instead of giving up things we would be better off without anyway:  smoking, drinking, or desserts.  I’d like to suggest some things a little more substantial:

This year, I’d like to GIVE UP grumbling! Moaning and complaining are not Christian disciplines, despite the frequency with which we practice them.  Instead of grumbling, I’m taking up gratitude.  "In everything give thanks."

GIVE UP looking at other people's worst points. We all have faults. It is a lot easier to have people overlook our shortcomings when we overlook theirs first.  Instead I am going to concentrate on their best points.

GIVE UP speaking unkindly. Instead, let your speech be generous and understanding. It costs so little to say something kind and uplifting.

GIVE UP your hatred of anyone or anything! Instead, learn the discipline of love. "Love covers a multitude of sins."

GIVE UP your worries and anxieties! Instead, trust God with them. Anxiety is spending emotional energy on something we can do nothing about: like tomorrow! Live today and let God's grace be sufficient.

God’s grace is indeed sufficient to lift us from the ash heap of our sins.  Return to the Lord your God in this Lenten season, for your God is gracious and merciful, abounding in steadfast love.

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