God loves you, and God has called you. God has called you to use who you are: every gift, every skill, every talent for God’s glory. To show what can happen when one heart yields to God’s goodness and lives for Jesus.
Watch above: Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York offers a reflection for Ash Wednesday and Lent 2020. A transcript follows, below.
This Lent, how will you draw closer to the God who created you, loves you, and calls you into fullness of life? Tell us in the comments, or if you need some ideas for a Lenten practice, please check out our favorite Lenten resources for 2020. And as you make your plans for Ash Wednesday on February 26th, please visit our listing of Ash Wednesday services and Ashes to Go locations around Central New York.
Transcript
“Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.”
It doesn’t really sound like an invitation to life, does it? And yet it is. We can either live our lives in fear of death and a sense of hopelessness, or we can recognize that we are temporal beings whose creator has gifted us with life. God calls us to utilize that life for the wellbeing of others in our world, and in doing so, we will feel better, too.
Each of us has an opportunity every morning, no matter our age or ability or situation, to make a choice to be in communion with God and to seek God’s love in this world.
Our draft vision statement for the Diocese of Central New York is, “A world healed by love.” This vision is something I think we hardly can imagine: a world in which the wellbeing of others is a primary concern. A world in which honor and integrity, truthfulness and hope and prayerfulness, are part of every day for every person.
Our draft mission statement, “Learning to love God, one another, and all creation,” is profound because learning is something we do until we’ve mastered the subject. And we have certainly not mastered loving God. We’ve certainly not mastered loving one another or all creation. We are people on a journey, people who travel together in this time. We have an opportunity to build up or tear down, to make the most of each opportunity or to miss it altogether out of fear or self-doubt.
God is. God loves you, and God has called you. God has called you to use who you are: every gift, every skill, every talent for God’s glory. To show what can happen when one heart yields to God’s goodness and lives for Jesus.
I prayed that in this time of Ash Wednesday and Lent, that once again we’ll take a look at our faith and how our lives reflect that faith. Or if our lives are very separate from our faith, I hope we’ll make decisions that bring us back to what we believe.
In this Ash Wednesday and Lenten season, may you be rejuvenated in your willingness and love for God and love to serve others. May you find this time to be one of hope and most of all, may you live to your fullest: “Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.” You don’t have much time. You better get going! Go, love, serve and blessings be yours.
