'Remember that you are but dust' and Mended China

Very real, very sober thoughts on this day which carries along on the life cycle of the Church as it parallels the life cycle of the man Joshua ben David - Jesus - through learning of his truest self, teaching and healing everywhere, bending - or transforming - some customary restrictions of the Law of the Jews into a new Way. This new Law could be followed not by a select few through privilege and ancestry, but by anyone who became a disciple and followed the discipline of Jesus. That discipline entails a life dedicated to love, humility, awareness, kindness, justice, work and teaching.

Lent begins with this stark statement of fact of our mortal life. This statement is an equalizer: we can ponder the ways in which we are all alike in our coming in and going out. What we do between our coming and going will depend on dedication and some sacrifice as well as our dependence on God's grace to keep us in lively relationship with our neighbors and our God.

We are but dust..... and what wonderful dust it is - created by God, given by God, shaped by God and eventually returning wonderfully to God.

________________________ Mended China______________________:

These next thoughts were sent to Barbara by Dona Gallagher in response to yesterday's e-Mo. Thanks very much, Dona, for the contribution!

"Japanese people greatly value their exquisite ceramic vases and do not throw them away when they are accidentally broken. Instead, they painstakingly glue together the broken pieces, filling the cracks with gold in a way that actually enhances the damage rather than hiding it. O blessedly happy are our sins by which we have become magnificently beautiful and by which we have been stunningly enhanced by God's golden love!" Edward Hays in The Lenten Pharmacy (Forest of Peace)