By David Brock of Atascadero, California USA

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This Lenten journey
These forty days;
from Ash Wednesday;
to Good Friday

Hard climb;
on rock-strewn;
Trackless wander;
in windswept deserts
Lonely descent;
through fierce landscapes.

Forty years of wandering;
from Egypt’s enslavement;
to Canaan’s freedom.

Forty days of waiting
unfaithful below Mount Sinai;
for a word from God

Forty days of being led;
by the Spirit
into the wilderness
to be tested.

This Lenten journey
These forty days;
from Ash Wednesday;
to Good Friday

We are not led
by green pastures
do not lie down
by still waters
are not comforted
by rod or staff
do not yet dwell
in peace and unafraid.

This Lenten journey
These forty days
Days of
pain and confrontation
cries for justice
And then

But only then

And not until then
still waters;
green pastures;
restoration

Prayer Phrase

“We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

The Ashes of God’s World

Hold an imaginary or real bowl of ashes in your hands; let it represent the losses, sufferings, and injustices in the global community. Name the things in the bowl that particularly grieve you. Pray a blessing on Community of Christ as it responds to the ashes of God’s world with healing words and reconciling actions.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.