Entering the Wilderness

When we travel, we all want things to go smoothly, to have fun, and to stay safe.  But not all journeys are like that.  Such is the journey through Lent, which we embark upon today.

Today is Ash Wednesday, a day when we are reminded that life is fleeting, and often too short, and that we waste a lot of it.  It is a day when we mark the beginning of a journey, one that takes us inside ourselves, where we take that fearless moral inventory, face our demons, are confronted with temptation, and ultimately, where we face our greatest questions about faith and God. 

It is not an easy journey.  It is dangerous, and scary, to stare into the reality of our mortality, at the reality of who we really are and how we are spending the life we have been given, and then to look into the face of God and see how we measure up to being the person that God created us to be, in God's own image, with God's own spirit residing in us. 

I cannot pray for any of us to have an easy journey.  Rather, I pray for us to have a brave one, to be fearless and honest and willing. 

Wishing you a holy Lent,

Teresa