Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Saturday afternoon usually finds me doing a bit of cleaning. Last week my investigations under the sofa uncovered a truant tree ornament, some pine needles still stuck in the carpet, and the remnants of a scented candle in bottom of mason jar. It seems that I just put away the tinsel and now it’s Lent. When Easter falls in March, it always places Lent a bit earlier. But, in spite of this fact, time seems to be clipping along faster every year. Luckily, I’m not running for president because I recently dated a check with a 19 instead of a 20 for the beginning of the year. Time goes neither fast nor slow, it just goes, and the crunch comes when we try to fill the container that time is with too much stuff. Lent may be the season to realize that time marches at a steady pace and I need to examine with what and how much of it I try to pack into a single hour. In short, Lent provides the opportunity to do a little house cleaning and see how I spend my time and is this expenditure a worthy exchange for the gift of time.