The season of lent is a time of preparation and mourning for us members of the Christian faith for the suffering that our saviour Jesus Christ had to endure in order to sacrifice his life for our sins, over two thousand years ago. ("Passions Zeit")-Regarding lent, we are reminded that our congregation was started in 1886 by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland.

By both nature and nurture I am a planner. I'm organized and make plans for the future days, weeks and months ahead of time. I plan for worst and best case scenarios and everything in-between. In my work I move quickly between projects. The pace of my workday does not leave time for my mind to process and reflect on one meeting before I launch into the next.

I saw a Tweet that said, “For Lent, I’m giving up.”

I think there is supposed to be a bit of dark humor to it as we enter the third year of a pandemic that didn’t have to be this way, continued systemic racism, yet another war, and countless other tragedies.

Ash Wednesday has become one of the most meaningful days for me in the liturgical calendar. I love the realness of it. I love the truth being spoken of the reality of our impermanence. I love the profound, simple and intimate act of having the minister dip their thumb in ash and mark my forehead while they state: You are dust and to dust you will return.