Some thoughts about tomorrow and for some, a pause for meaning

Good reading, whatever your persuasion.

For Christians worldwide, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.  It represents the first day of Lent, a time of fasting and of reflection in advance of Easter, the most significant observance within the Christian tradition, a day of hope and of resurrection – life renewed.

Tomorrow is also a day when non-Christians may come across some of their Catholic friends or co-workers bearing the shape of a cross etched in ashes upon their forehead.  This represents a very old custom and, while applied by a priest with the thumb of his hand, is accompanied with words from Genesis, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

For me, the significance of that verity is not so much to dwell upon the end of a person’s short duration on this earth – an unmeasurable instance of human activity, a mere fleck in the expansion of the universe – but to concentrate in the moment on the direction and value of one’s chosen path within the gift of life.

In that regard, I recently came across the following pregnant mini-message culled from a book by Joan Chittister, a prolific and sometimes controversial Catholic writer:

We do not all hear the same tones at the same volume, or see the same visions in the same colors, or seek the same goods of life in the same way, . . . there is as a result more than one way to go about the journey to God . . .

Simple, isn’t it?  Yet, as with many aspects of life on this planet – secular or spiritual – the most simple is often twisted into the most complex of inanities . . . .

Thanks for reading.  Remember to take care of yourselves during this brutally cold winter.  Just wait though! Spring is peeking around the corner
 
NOTE:  I need to add that some churches within the Christian family other than those of Catholicism also observe the practice of marking the forehead with the sign of the cross on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.  The Courier News ran an excellent article on the practice this week, and also a short video on the topic.  (02-22-2015, 9:18 PM)