Lent began in the early church as a forty-day fast, inspired by Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness.  It is a time for self-emptying to let the Spirit have room to transform our heart.

Lent is not about punishing our self, it is about freeing it to be all that God created it to be, full of love and life and light.  We need to let the lesser lights of the self fall into shadow and let the selfish voices fall silent if we want to facilitate our inner transformation.

We are offering a simple and powerful ritual to enter that wilderness journey.  The sanctuary will be open for an hour on February 14^th, Ash Wednesday evening, from 5:45 to 6:45 PM.

We will sit in the shadows of candles and dim lights, reading or praying or reflecting in silence.  If we feel so moved, we can walk up to the front where the pastor will put ashes on our forehead or the back of our hand, saying, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” reminding us to let go of what is transient and hold onto what is eternal.

We come to the service when we can get there and leave when we feel ready—it is a drop-in service.  We know when we leave that we have crossed into the Lenten wilderness with Christ and begun our journey of transformation.