ashes... venturing into lent

ashes...
Lent begins with ashes. the ashes of burnt palm leaves from last year's Palm Sunday. i.e. we begin where we will end. i.e. we know where we're heading... to the cross. to the darkness of Good Friday, the pain and confusion of Holy Saturday, and the joy and relief of Resurrection Sunday.
Lent is a journey towards the cross. but not because being sober is the holiest of moods, or cause its healthy to fast or we could use a God-driven diet... but because we often lose touch with how much we need redemption. because we often lose touch with the hunger of our soul for God and His grace... through Lent, we are led to rediscover our hunger and to follow its lead... to God.
I'm wary of Lent when it is percieved simply as 40 days of fasting from sweets or TV or whatever. I'm wary of Lent when it is explained simply in terms of self-denial... because lent is so much more than this. it involves fasting. self-denial is central to Lent. but the fasting and self-denial and repentance are not the end. they're not the goal. not the purpose. the end of Lent is transformation, new life, resurrection. life... not death. Lent is a gift, not a drudgery. its an invitation into the very depths of God's love and grace, with the hope of being raised to a new life in and with Christ...
so, as we begin lent, i want to invite you to join me in seeking to embrace self-denial for the sake of becoming more responsive to the needs of others (physically, relationally, spiritually)... to fast so as to feel the hunger of others and to find ways to respond to it... to go without for the sake of giving more to others...
in this lenten journey, may we truly die with Christ to sin (self-obsession, self-preoccupation, self-preservation) and may we truly rise with Christ to a new life--to live in and with Christ. a life marked by selfless love and compassion and mercy and grace and righteousness (i.e. peacemaking and justice-seeking).
may your journey through Lent be truly filled with joy. may you be filled with the hope of a new life emerging from the death of your self...
ashes...
you companion in the journey, scott