My mom passed away two months ago. She lived a good and long life and though we all miss her, we take great solace in our wonderful memories and the sure knowledge that she is someplace much better.

And now, we are left going through a lifetime of her belongings, souvenirs, collections, photographs, and the other mementos of her life. Much of it was pretty important to her. 

But much of it isn’t nearly as important to us. When we sort through the things we want to keep, there’s not much left. So, some is donated… and most is tossed into a dumpster.

Gone. Just like dust.

It’s making me think about everything I’m gathering in life, everything I prize, everything I’m aiming for, and everything I value. So much of it will be tossed out into a dumpster too.

Just like dust.

And though my mom was very much loved, in another generation or two, nobody will remember her, nobody will know she ever lived at all.

Just like dust.

There is no better time to remember this, to reflect on it, to consider the implications than today… which is precisely what we do as we begin our Lenten journey together. 

So, I would ask you to reflect on all of the things in your life that will end up just like dust. The things that won’t be remembered in a generation or two and which will most likely end up tossed into a dumpster.

But you know what won’t end up like that? 

Well, by virtue of everything that happens during the Lenten journey, over all the hills and valleys in life that we face on this road to Jerusalem… we are given a great gift. In fact, it’s the greatest gift we will ever receive… and that is the chance to not only be accompanied every step of the way, even through the deepest and darkest valleys, but also to have the hope that there is a part of us that is nothing at all like dust.

So, what are you building up?

What are you chasing?

What are you collecting?

What are you prioritizing?

Ash Wednesday is the day when we are reminded – by the sign of a black mark on our foreheads – that love, compassion, mercy, peacemaking, humility, surrender, forgiveness, and hope and their lingering effects are the things that endure, that can’t be tossed into a dumpster, and which are most decidedly not just like dust. 

Starting today, let’s build up what lasts… not what gets tossed.

Let’s focus on what remains… not what is forgotten.

And let’s be a people willing to truly follow Christ… to Good Friday on Calvary… and then… into the light, into beauty, to eternity… and on to Easter.