wonderful dust.

Today is ash wednesday, the first day of lent. I am preaching for the first time at Lee's Summit UMC tonight, and am excited because lent can be such an amazing journey. And hopefully, I will be able to invite others on that same journey.

Joel 2 :12 says, "Return to me with all your hearts." I think this act of returning is what makes lent so beautiful. No matter how far we've drifted, how distracted we've been, how broken our hearts are, we are invited on a journey to return to God.

So where is it we are returning to? I've been contemplating that for the last few weeks, and the image that keeps coming back to me is that of God in the first moment of creating humanity. The earth is this flat wasteland, and through any other eyes would have looks dry and hopeless. But God sees possibility. He reaches into the dust, and sees possibility. From little bits of earth that seem like nothing at all, our great Artist God creates humanity, and calls us children of God.

Lent is a return into God's hand. It is an opportunity to make space in our lives for the great creator to transform us. By setting aside 40 days to intentionally pray, fast, and seek God, we allow God to once again reshape us. We return to the intimacy of that first act in which we were created. And just as God saw possibility in that dust, the divine still sees and creates possibilities in whatever mess we've made of our lives.

Wherever you are at, whatever pieces your life is in, God can recreate it. That is what the resurrection promises. This night, we cry out that we are nothing, we repent of our egos, our materialism, our selfishness, and our failings; we confront our own mortality, remembering that our days on earth are numbered. But in this very moment of admitting we are nothing, we are reminded of a God who can do all things. A God who calls us his children, and who at the end of every wilderness journey provides an Easter, a recreation, a promise of new life.

So, when you hear those words: "Remember that you are dust, and to the dust you shall return." Be reminded also that God is the greatest artist, and has intentions for us beyond our mortality. You are wondrous dust, with which God can do marvelous things, if only we return to his hands.

This year, I am committing to fast from food one day a week, to journal every day, and to spend less time surfing the web. I am excited about intentionally creating space and time in my life for the spirit to move.

My friend Flip came up with a really creative idea for Lenten practice this year, by committing to give one thing away each day for the forty days of Lent:



You can check out his journey throughout lent by viewing his video blog at http://flipcaderao.tumblr.com/ .

Whether or not you have any Lenten practice, I hope you are finding ways to experience the power, creativity and hope of the divine in your life. I'd love for you to share about the ways that God is moving in your life this season.