Welcome to this meditation series for the season of Lent.
If you are unfamiliar with the liturgical season of Lent,
It is the 6 weeks or 40 days preceding Easter.
Reflecting the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert,
This time of fasting,
Prayer,
And giving prepares us for the miracle of the resurrection.
This series is based in the Christian story,
But know all are welcome who know the justice of this world is imperfect.
Find a comfortable seat.
Take a deep breath and close your eyes.
Let us first ground in our body.
Take a few more deep,
Slow breaths.
Listen to the rhythm of your breath and find the rhythm of your heart.
This is the movement of your existence.
Here is the core of who you are in your body,
How you experience the world,
How the world experiences you.
Accept this breath and this heartbeat as the movement of you.
It is continuous and steady,
The same as it was for you ten years ago,
One hour ago,
Tomorrow,
Ten years from now.
Your breath and your heartbeat does not change,
Yet it sustains every change you have ever been through and will ever become.
Here you are.
Today is Ash Wednesday,
A day of deep introspection.
Today we embrace the humility of knowing we are a member of humanity.
The beauty of diversity of each individual human does not replace that in general,
Humans are more similar than they are different.
A hallmark of humanity is our interconnectedness.
You are who you are because of your family,
Your community,
Mentors and tormentors,
Children and acquaintances.
You are not alone and every action you take affects a human,
Even if it is only you.
You affect the world around you.
The world affects you.
You are dust and to dust you will return.
Humility reminds us that we are finite,
Nothing will make us immortal.
What a precious gift.
Humility releases us from any idea that we are God and gives the relief that we carry far less on our shoulders.
You are not God.
God is God.
You are dust and to dust you will return.
To look on our world with eyes stripped of pride and superiority is to see the suffering and the beauty that surrounds us.
Knowing you are not God and cannot do everything.
What can you contribute?
What do you have to give?
What do others need?
Let those questions move around your body.
We begin our Lenten journey here,
Not as individuals,
But as humble members of a body.
Your part is small,
Yet necessary.
You are here to discover what you have in order to give.
Amen.
