Wednesday, March 1, 2017 – Let Me Ash You Something – Do You Observe Lent?

Wednesday, March 1, 2017 – Let Me Ash You Something – Do You Observe Lent?

If you answered with “the dryer lint?” then that is incorrect. So Lenten up.

Today is Ash Wednesday. If your faith is in one of those descended from the kneelers – Catholic, Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist – to name a few, then the observance of Lent is part of your upbringing. For observers it marks the beginning of the days leading to Easter Sunday. It is a time of reflection and prayer when observers remember the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness prior to His entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

It is called Ash Wednesday because at religious services one receives ashes on their forehead in the shape of a cross. It calls attention to one’s mortality. We are all just a bunch of God’s dust bunnies running around until He says “Come Home.”

The ashes actually come from burning the fronds from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. They do not come from the nuns and priests staying up all night smoking cigars and playing poker as my Louisiana relatives used to tell me.

It is a period of time when one sacrifices something they enjoy in an effort to make the world a better place. One may also choose to do something they have not done before. It is about the commitment to be a better person.

Ash Wednesday 2014 my Lenten commitment was to start this blog – Here’s What I’m Thinking. In spite of the entries you might read, it began as and continues to be a spiritual endeavor. I committed to write something each day of the week to try to make at least one person laugh and/or think.

Palo Duro Canyon 2015 – Photo by me.

Since that time my Lenten commitment is always to recommit to HWIT with the caveat to get better and get more followers. In addition this year I am giving up some time in my day. I was going to give up being sarcastic and to stop cussing, but that would only make me a damn mute.

Instead I decided to say the Rosary once a day. I wonder where my beads are? Tony, Tony, please come round. – Catholic thing.

Here’s what I’m thinking – If Jesus can spend 40 days in the wilderness with no TV, no Pandora, no Internet, no Facebook, no Twitter, – just Him and Devil at every corner, then you can sacrifice or do something for 40 days.

What are you waiting for?

Grand Canyon – 2008 – Photo by me.