Ash Wednesday

 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

  O Lord, hear my voice.
       Let your ears be attentive
       to my cry for mercy.

 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
       O Lord, who could stand?

 But with you there is forgiveness;
       therefore you are feared.

 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
       and in his word I put my hope.

  My soul waits for the Lord
       more than watchmen wait for the morning,
       more than watchmen wait for the morning.

 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
       for with the LORD is unfailing love
       and with him is full redemption.

  He himself will redeem Israel

       from all their sins.

                              Psalm 130

Today marks the beginning of Lent.  Christians are challenged to follow in an extra measure of ancient discipline in order to find newness, intimacy, or connection with the One who gave his life for us.  Some give up chocolate, meat, make-up or Facebook.  Some commit to take on new or deeper habits of prayer, study, or Christian action.  All this we do, in eager preparation and celebration of resurrection and redemption.

We wear a reminder of or brokenness not as a badge of honor, or a whip of martyrdom, but rather as a mark of humility.  We need that mercy, that forgiveness, that connection to something more, if we will stand in this world.  We say with the Psalmist. "my soul waits for You" more than the stuff I have gained, or even that which I have committed to give up.  He must become the more which we crave.  

Today, we acknowledge our finite lives because we understand we need the Infinite One.  We deny ourselves in a world that champions the concept of more so that we find rest in a world that offers the concept of simplicity.  We begin a walk through the valley, knowing the One who formed the mountains will be our guide.