And so it begins ... our Lenten journey starts today with Ash Wednesday. Many will kick off this 40-day season being marked with an ashen cross placed on their forehead. It’s ritual. It’s what we do. Why?

I have always viewed Lent as far more than simply a time to ‘repent for my sins.’ It’s a time to recenter and refocus on God ... and what God is transforming in myself and the world around me. I encourage you to consider what the ashes mean to you this particular Lent.

The ashes seem a little thicker to me this year. I think about the ash from the wildfires that blanketed our skies in a haze where we could barely see the sun for days. I think about the mountains of ash that lay in the rubble in the streets of Gaza. Ashes are created from something being destroyed.

And then I think about God.

God who can take destruction in any form and bring about new life.

God who has, who can and who will – make beauty from the ashes ... time and time again.

It’s what God does best.

This Lent don’t just repent ... take all that is ‘destroyed’ in your life and the world around us and turn toward God. Wait and see the beauty God creates from the rubble.

Rev. Tami K. Reichley

Excerpt from Ash Wednesday sermon Feb. 14.

The Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit - Emmaus