So…I know I'm a week late for Ash Wednesday. But last week…well last week blogging just wasn't gonna happen. However, since Lent is a season, I think these thoughts are still applicable…I know I'm still chewing on them!...so I'm still going to share them, even a week late.
A little bit of context, for those who may never have attended an Ash Wednesday service (I hadn't until this year!): part of that service involves the pastor or priest marking a cross made of ashes on the forehead with these words "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." This is a good article on what Ash Wednesday is all about.
A reflection on receiving the ashes:
"For the truth is that, considering the larger scheme of things, we live only a very short time. And the reminder of that reality can serve to put our present situation into clear perspective. It is not uncommon to read in the human interest section of the newspaper a story about a woman or man whose diagnosis of a terminal or life-threatening illness has brought about a radical change of heart. Suddenly, he or she examines priorities, sees superficial concerns for what they are, casts them aside, and determines to live each day with gratitude and fearlessness. Ash Wednesday is such a diagnostic moment for all of us." (p.19)
~Wendy Wright, The Rising: Living the Mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost
My Bookbag This Week:
Devotional: The Daily Office Lectionary Readings and Prayers from The Trinity Mission
The Cloud of Witness (Gell)
A Sacrifice of Praise (poetry anthology, edited by Trott)
The Rising: Living the Mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost (Wright)
Theological: The Screwtape Letters (Lewis)
AO Book Discussion Group: Paradise Lost (Milton)
Personal Choice: The Scent of Water (Goudge)
With my Hubby: Pride and Prejudice (Austen)
Family Read-Aloud Literature: The Wouldbegoods (Nesbit)
*I am also reading Scouting the Divine (Feinburg) with a women's group at church and Charlotte Mason's Volume 6 for a local CM book club, but these meetings are infrequent and so I just read the brief section assigned as our meetings come up. They aren't really part of my regular reading rotation as the rest of these are.
** Yes. My hubby is actually reading Pride and Prejudice with me. And enjoying it....
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The Rising is an absolute gem! I love Wendy Wright's work. I've walked many Lents with her!
ReplyDeleteNew to me find this year. I'm enjoying it thus far. :)
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