Ash Wednesday
February 26th, 2020

The sun is shining again today, and the sky is that lovely soft blue

of spring time.....

The catkins outside my window are growing fatter and a little more lush,

marking the time as spring steps closer 

and the sun grows warmer.

I think to ask someone to bring the summertime table and chair out 

of its winter hibernation in the garden shed,

so I can take my book and a cup of tea outside

and contemplate the garden, and the hellebores, still covered with snow.

It is Ash Wednesday!

I see the cars gathered around the Roman Catholic Church

and lament that there is no service across the street

in the Anglican Church....

no ashen crosses on our forehead

but still, the day causes me to meditate a bit on Lent;

its meaning and what it accomplishes

in the lives of those who commit to those forty days.

I wonder if the days of Lent, before its Christian origin,
were observed as a time of purification,
or if the fasting that is part of Lent
arose because of a lack of food after a hard winter
and before summertime filled the larder again?

In place of a quiet service
I read parts of T.S. Eliot's long poem
"Ash Wednesday"
and think about Lenten Days and how best to make
them meaningful, and rich in their sparseness

And I listen to Stjepan Hauser  and Luka Sulic
and their beautiful rendition of  "Benedictus"
once again!!!