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Ash Wednesday is fast approaching. The holy season of Lent is before us. One of my favorite times of the year. There is a calmness that ensues. The air is filled with a renewed focus. Concentration. Stillness even. 

Maybe it is because people give up drinking coffee (or sweet tea) and eating chocolate.

Maybe it is because there is lots required of the faithful, of disciples during these forty days. 

Prayer. Repentance. Forgiveness. 

Remembering. 

Going without. 

Coming into peace. 

Living a gospel of hope, even though you know what happens at the end of the story. The really sad events of death. Death of destructive habits. Death of grudges. Death of the one who loved neighbors, strangers, and enemies. 

Living a gospel of joy, even though you know what happens at the end of the story. This is a different type of anticipation. This anticipation faces death, first. Yet, there is joy in that morning sunrise. There is a new creation. 

A calmness. In the midst of preparation. Anticipation. A waiting that requires strength, will power and...hope. A longing for the moment of restoration. Forty days. Forty days to forgive. 

Ash Wednesday is upon us, friends. A new calm. A time to remember. Going without. Yet coming into a...new...peace. 

40 of 365,

BEAT