Going Deeper

What feelings does the imagery evoke in you? The song lyrics? 
What images or lyrics stood out to you from the film? Why are those words or 
images meaningful? 
What is a gift from the images or song you will take with you throughout your day? 
Here at the onset of the Lenten season, what is it you are seeking? What do you 
hope to find? 
Where do you sense God today? 
How are you feeling your humanity today? 

Reflection 
From dust we are, and to dust we shall return. There is a beginning and an end to 
this life, but there is also everything in between including so many minor 
beginnings and ends. Births and deaths. Today is one of those orienting days where 
we mark our willingness to pay attention to some things we’ve been distracted from. 
A lot of times what we have been distracted from is our finite existence, and 
whether or not we are doing what we are made to do. But another thing we might 
consider taking a look at, if we are going to get truly dirt-y, is the soil in which we 
are planted. 

What are you growing out of and what are you becoming? Learning this may 
require you to consider tilling some soil. 

I hope you can mark this day in some way if you don’t celebrate with the 
imposition of ashes. Mark it just by noticing you exist, feeling yourself down in 

Going Deeper 
What feelings does the imagery evoke in you? The song lyrics? 
What images or lyrics stood out to you from the film? Why are those words or 
images meaningful? 
What is a gift from the images or song you will take with you throughout your day? 
Here at the onset of the Lenten season, what is it you are seeking? What do you 
hope to find? 
Where do you sense God today? 
How are you feeling your humanity today? 

Reflection 
From dust we are, and to dust we shall return. There is a beginning and an end to 
this life, but there is also everything in between including so many minor 
beginnings and ends. Births and deaths. Today is one of those orienting days where 
we mark our willingness to pay attention to some things we’ve been distracted from. 
A lot of times what we have been distracted from is our finite existence, and 
whether or not we are doing what we are made to do. But another thing we might 
consider taking a look at, if we are going to get truly dirt-y, is the soil in which we 
are planted. 

What are you growing out of and what are you becoming? Learning this may 
require you to consider tilling some soil. 
I hope you can mark this day in some way if you don’t celebrate with the 
imposition of ashes. Mark it just by noticing you exist, feeling yourself down in 
your body…not just your mind. The Lenten journey welcomes us inward for some 
work that will inspire us to carry the message to our part of the world. Can we be 
courageous in taking an honest stock about where and who we are today? 
We are made of earth and water and fire and air and Divine Love, we belong to 
these elements just as they belong to us. These are the ingredients for growth and 
existence. Here on Ash Wednesday, as we step onto the path of the Lenten Season, 
we welcome and honor the earth and its part in who we are and our sustainability. 

Practice 
Consider orienting to your body today, noticing yourself in your conscious rather 
than subconscious. You are wonderfully made. Take yourself on a little walk about 
outside if you can. See the season starting to stretch from winter to spring. Find 
some dirt, maybe plant something or just spend the day noticing. See what arises in 
you. Here is a poem by Mary Oliver to take along with you as inspiration and inner 
exploration. Feel free to read it aloud or as part of your lectio divina practice. 

For Ash Wednesday by Mary Oliver 
Who made the world? 
Who made the swan, and the black bear? 
Who made the grasshopper? 
This grasshopper, I mean￾the one who has flung herself out of the grass, 
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, 
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. 
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. 
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. 
I don't know exactly what a prayer is. 
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down 
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, 
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, 
which is what I have been doing all day. 
Tell me, what else should I have done? 
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? 
Tell me, what is it you plan to do 
with your one wild and precious life?