"Dust you are and to dust you shall return."

Normally these words are spoken at the graveside committal of a Christian reminding everyone present of our mortality. These words take us back to the garden and Adam's sin and fall from grace. There God promised if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he and Eve would die. Through Satan's tempting they ate and even though it was hundreds of years later, the bible records for us the death of Adam. And it has been the same with every human born since, because dust we are and to dust we shall return.

Yet, in our busy American lives how often do we pause and contemplate our own death's? How many of us have created wills, discussed end of life issues with our children, or even made arrangements for our funerals with a funeral director or pastor? The truth of the matter is that not many of us have done any of these things for a variety of reasons. I believe the biggest is that we don't want to admit to ourselves that one day we will die. Then the church thrusts into our lives a day that forces us to think about our own deaths. This day, Ash Wednesday, can be very depressing if it is not understood in its proper context.

On Ash Wednesday Christians gather in church and after a time of personal reflection, come to God's altar and humbly kneel and receive God's verdict upon our lives. "Dust you are and to dust you shall return"... a pronouncement of our own sins. A connection of our own lives to Adam's fall and our own deaths. Yet, the pastor does not place the ashes on in any old manner. Like the words, there is meaning in the ashes. They are taken from the Palm branches used on Palm/Passion Sunday the previous year, reminding us of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The ashes are applied to the forehead in the shape of cross reminding us that even though we may die, we have life through Jesus death and resurrection. They are placed upon the forehead taking the baptized back to their own baptisms were, through water and the Word, they were marked as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.

On Ash Wednesday the season of Lent begins and for many it is a time of deep personal and spiritual reflection. I would encourage everyone to take these 40 days and think about you own mortality. Make arrangements with family, funeral directors, and pastors for your funeral. Think about the legacy of faith that you are leaving behind for your family. But most of all, remember the cross of Christ has the final word. For dust you are and to dust you shall return.... And through faith in Christ you shall live again.

Bread from Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

4th Petition to the Lord's Prayer.

With the current economic trends and all the debate over the billions of dollars in the new stimulus package, many of us are still unsure of what tomorrow will bring. Layoffs, unemployment,and economic slowdown still threaten those of us stuck in the middle. When will this change? When will the good times return? Or will they ever?

Like many of you, I think about these things as I go over my own bills and ponder how I will be able to afford college and all the stuff that is just around the corner for my family. In fact last week I woke up and could not go back asleep because my mind kept racing around all the possible scenarios. Worried, depressed, overwhelmed, and very tired I did the only thing that seems to help me in a time like this, I prayed. And as laid there praying, I made it the Lord's Prayer and stopped on the 4th petition, " Give us this day our daily bread."

There was the answer to all my worries that night. As hard as it is for us as humans, God wishes for us to trust Him for the things we need in life. As I pondered this petition I thought about the children of Israel in the wilderness. How every day God would send manna, heavenly bread, to them in the form of a morning dew. Each day the people would go out and collect just enough for the day. No more, no less. In fact if they did try to gather enough for the next day, the bread would become full of bugs and rot away. The lesson for us today is that God still provides us with daily bread.

The hard part for us is understanding the differences between what we need and what we want. In times like this God has a very gentle way of showing us the important things in life by literally taking away from us the ability to have extra stuff that are really just distractions. And ultimately pointing us back to the the best "bread" that God has provided. Which is not really bread at all, it's Jesus. Jesus calls Himself, "the bread of heaven." Manna from God to feed not the body, but the soul. It is Jesus and our faith in Him that provides all that we need in this life. As Jesus said, " seek first the kingdom of God and all things will be added unto you." I would encourage you this week to say the Lord's Prayer every night and as you come to this petition remember all that the Lord has given you to support your life and your soul with Him forever.

Fingerprints

As I sat down to watch the Superbowl last Sunday, I noticed that all over the screen were dirty little finger prints. There were peanut butter prints, jelly prints, sticky kool-aid prints and yes even some crusty snotty prints (yuck!). At first I was upset that the kids continued to touch the TV after having been told "thousands of time" not to do just that. But trying not to have this little thing ruin family night, I washed off the fingerprints and sat down with the kids for the game.

Then over last few days, I have noticed those same fingerprints everywhere. There are some on the walls, the doors, the windows, on the mirrors, and yes even on my glasses. With five children running around the house it is very hard to keep things clean. Yet, in the quiet moments of life I stop and smile at those fingerprints because, to a father, each of them are special. I can tell, based on size and location, who left what behind. Even the twins leave different fingerprints. God, in His Divine wisdom, has created each person to be different. No two of us are alike. We look different, have different talents, hobbies, and as scientists tell us,we even have different fingerprints.

Where have you left your fingerprints? Is it in the life of a son or daughter? A grandchild or neighbor? Are your fingerprints all over church as you use your gifts and abilities in God's house? I encourage you this week to stop and look at the fingerprints around your house. Marvel and enjoy them for a moment before you wash them away. And if you can, try to leave a few fingerprints of your own in the lives of someone close to you. Let them know you love and care for them.