Keeping Lent - Ash Wednesday

Today marks the beginning of Lent, a time of preparation, fasting and prayer observed by the Western churches. The word Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for spring. The Lenten season lasts 40 days as a symbol of the Biblical traditions found in the Old and New Testaments of preparation and prayer before special occasions. There are six Sundays during Lent which are not counted in the season of Lent.

In the early Church ashes were sprinkled on the head of penitents as a token of repentance of sin. Repentance means denial and some people use the time of Lent to deny themselves of something. They say they are giving up “chocolate” for example for Lent. But for me it means a chance to remind myself that I am a child of God.

Lent is a time for me to put away negative thoughts and focus on the positive. Jesus said, “You are light for all the world.” (Matthew 5:14) Turning from the darkness and toward the light of God, I realize that I am strong, positive, powerful, wise, loving, fearless, free spirit, and the perfect child of God.

Keeping Lent this way will prepare me mentally, physically, and spiritually to rise out of the old and into the new. Each morning I plan to focus on this 40-day journey with prayer and meditation. Today I remind myself that the light of God surrounds me reflecting back into the lives of the people I touch as Jesus calls me to do, “As a lamp you must shed your light among your fellows….,” Matthew 5:16.