Dust-Bound

Thursday, February 15                                                  Reading: Psalm 51:1-17
Ash Wednesday was yesterday. At the evening service, we played with clay and marked foreheads and hands with ashes. This helps us remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Then again, there are too many reminders of how fragile life is and how dust bound we all are.

Meanwhile, we live now. Now is a sad time, though appropriate, to dust off the scripture and read it in today's context.

So, that is my intention for Lent:

• Read the "Now"ness of the lectionary text;
• Reflect on it, from where I am now--maybe a mom's lens, maybe as a wife, maybe as a minister, or a youth leader, a friends or sister, maybe a person who thinks enough is enough, etc.

"Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation," (vs. 14)

Reflection

"Deliver me from bloodshed," chokes me up in the text as I think about the high school students caught in Wednesday's gun violence. I am going to be on the lookout for God's salvific power to redeem and work wholeness into the Parkland community. Meanwhile, I grieve for the victims, their families, the school community and the wider community.

Since I can do so little with words of reflection and virtual posts, I looked up churches near the high school so that we can pray for the ways that these faith communities can support a big need and long journey of healing ahead of them:

Parkridge Church, Mary Help of Christians Church, Iglesia Catolica Parkland, First UMC, Royal Palm Christian Church, Church on the Hill Congregational Church.

Join me in lifting up all of the means of support and healing that Parkland, FL needs.

There's much more to the Psalm 51, but there are more days in Lent to consider them.

Rev. Ashley

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