to dust we shall return

Yesterday I was working on the church newsletter for February and people were bringing their health kits for Haiti to the Fellowship Center. As I was writing about Lent, the devastation in Haiti reminded me that life is so fragile and we as humans are so vulnerable. The reminders are with us every day of the phrase we repeat on Ash Wednesday - we are dust and to dust we shall return. We never know the moment of that return to dust – whether in the instant of the earth’s shaking or the silent creeping of individual illness. We can try to buy a little peace of mind by becoming preoccupied with building walls to keep mortality at bay. Or, we can put ourselves and those we love in the hands of the God whose love reaches even beyond death. Easier said than done, I know. But that is our journey of faith, not only during lent, not only in the face of unfathomable human loss, but each and every day of our ordinary lives.