A Sunday in Lent

As I walked out of the house, 
on that Sunday afternoon, 
I noticed the angle of the sun was different, 
less distant, closer, warmer. 

The doorway was beginning to be framed by the pink of  flowers and the white of lilies. 
In my mind I kept repeating that all these things that go away will return again and again. 

I thought of my father and how his broken mind and withered body have passed on and that now he is reborn, 
not just of water and the spirit but into eternal life. 

That glimpse of the coming spring, 
brief, 
only a fraction of the glory that God has prepared for those who wait on him. 

On Ash Wednesday, 
we all made our way over to the sanctuary, 
quiet and solemn, 
remebering the season and what it means, 
prasing God, 
wanting to stay true, 
to see the journey to fruition, 
conscious of how our bodies will fail, 
and aware that our souls belong to God, 
animated by his very breath. 

Remember baptism, 
that ritualized death by water, 
death to old life, 
water and the spirit,
drwoned to sin, the glamour of evil and all of satan's empty promises, 
committed to respond to the endless push and pull of the love of God. 
We prayed and sang hymns, 
asking God to stay near us, 
a guiding light in a world gone crazy. 

"Remember your baptism and remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."

I remembered mine, 
I remembered those of my children and that old and tainted life I left behind, 
shedding an old coat and being clothed in white. 

I remembered someone I had known long ago, 
I took him to the doctor and he was told that there was nothing more to be done, 
the end is near and soon you will die. 
It felt like the world was coming down on both of us, 
I said nothing but remained by his side, 
the doctor left the room, 
all I could do was ask if there was anything I could do for him?

"Could you take me to the Church? I feel like I need to pray..." 

The Church was quiet that day, 
red flames and white doves, 
light through the stained glass windows, 
reminders of the glory of God, 
seeking absolution and comfort, 
he prayed, 
aware that to dust he would return,
awake and faithful, 
God would retain his soul, 
and that only the part of life that we know will end, 
the part to come will never end. 

T.S. Deary 
3/15/24