"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return".  I always hated that sentence.  It's not the returning to dust part that bothered me.  It's not even the idea that God created the original humans from the dust of the earth.  My problem with it is the same problem I have had with some of the communion liturgies.  Both of them lift up our unworthiness, our need to come to God groveling and wallowing in the mud.  Again, it's not that I don't recognize that God is God and we are not.  My problem is that God has created us, and loves us, and needs us to be in ministry here on Earth.  We are worthy because God has made us worthy.  Do we need to recognize and claim our sinfulness?  Yes.  But often when people spend a lot of time feeling unworthy they never move beyond that feeling.  They never move on to understanding that they are beloved children of God.  What I hope for all of us is that we come to this Lent remembering that we are beloved children of God who sometimes fail.  Then we get back up, God lifts us back up, and we continue to be in ministry.


As we spend extra time during Lent with you, O God, may we be drawn more deeply into the circle of your love.  May we feel your presence around us in all that we do.  May we sense your call to be in ministry in your name with those around us, to reach out to all those whose lives are in chaos.  Let this season of Lent help us to be even better disciples in all that we do......Amen.