Ash Wednesday

I went to my first Ash Wednesday service last night. Lent was never part of my Christian experience before. Our priest asked us to think of Lent as a purposeful process in which one takes stock of where things are in your life with God. Maybe there's some things you need to realign. Maybe you don't have to make any changes.

And any form of outward expression, such as fasting from certain foods, is just a symbol of the internal remembrance that's going on during this time. It's a way to conciously remind ourselves that we're in Lent and what that stands for.

My favorite part of the service was when she said that after we would kneel and confess all of the ways in which we've fallen short, we would have communion. She pointed out that even in our down moments when we reflect upon our sin, God still desires to commune with us. He still loves us.

I thought that was pretty cool.