Ash Wednesday

We went last night to have our foreheads ashed with the sign of a cross to mark the beginning of Lent or Lenten, the lengthening of days and the start in Christian tradition of a time of fasting and prayer to prepare ourselves for Easter and the celebration of Christ's resurrection. Lent invites us to a time of introspection, a desert time in common with the Desert Fathers and Mothers and centuries of monasticism to enter into some type of contemplation on our humanity, our failings.