Thought for the Week - week 12

The Church is now in the middle of Lent. The season began on Ash Wednesday - March 2 this year - when Christians are marked with ash, and reminded: 'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.'

 

Hardly the most cheerful of words. But they speak a profound truth. For each of us has a beginning and will have an end. Each of us is made from the earth, and to the earth we all return.

 

Whatever our religious views, whether we believe in God or not, pausing and considering out own limitations, our own place in the world, is no bad thing. It’s as if we’re all being asked remember where you came from, know your limitations, be yourself.

 

On Ash Wednesday, these aren’t the only words heard. It continues: 'Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.'

 

It’s a call to us, aware of our origins and our final destination, to turn away from things which are destructive for us, our families and communities and for the world, and to be faithful to something better. It’s that giving up for Lent.

 

If we were all to use this month considering our own shortcomings, and our own place, albeit briefly, in this beautiful world, and to embrace the way of the One who summed up religion like this, 'love the Lord your God..., love your neighbour as yourself', I’m sure the world would be a better place.

 

The Right Reverend Dr Keith Riglin, Bishop of Argyll and The Isles.