Ash Wednesday 2022

Lent begins today.

It seems as if we just go through Christmas. After all when you’re both a Christmas performer and a procrastinator, it might just be possible that you’ve not entirely restored the house after taking the decorations down. It might be even more possible that you still have some decorations up outside.

Be kind, if you’ve been reading here, you know that 2022 hasn’t been the skippiest of years. Not to mention the fact that, thanks to COVID, my Santa season didn’t really end on a high note…or any note since my show was shut down early.

It’s also true that as a wearer of the red suit, my season is never really over. Sure the appearances are officially over. But you never really stop thinking about the next season and how to be a better Claus.

I did give myself two months off from officially working on things Claus-ish. But this month I’m returning to the website and to the planning. No, it is not too soon.

But not today. Today begins the season of Lent.

In the Christian tradition, Lent is a 40 day season of prayer and fasting leading from Ash Wednesday (today) to Holy Thursday, the night on which Jesus was betrayed.

People observe Lent in many ways. For some it’s the giving up of treats, or indulgences (not that kind, stay with me).

While traditions may vary, what is most important is that we take a time to reflect.

Reflect on what Christ has done for us through his sacrifice on the cross and through his resurrection.

The Write Side Shop

These are turbulent times.

But in my sixty-some years I’m not sure that I’ve ever lived in non-turbulent times. There is always conflict. There is always suffering. There is always poverty. There is always hunger. There is always disease.

The Follower of Jesus understands that these things happen because this is not our home.

But the journey that begins today and follows through Easter morning and beyond is a reminder that He has indeed gone to prepare a new place for us.

A new heaven and a new earth.

But it begins with the journey to the cross.

American singer-songwriter, and gospel music legend, Dottie Rambo, was born on this day in 1934. (d. 2008)


 

THINGS YOU SHOULD READ

BREAKING: Biden says Americans should not be concerned about nuclear war
The Post Milleniall
Speaking to the question of nuclear confrontation, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that concerns that nuclear war is imminent are overblown. Read More…and tremble.

REP. JIM BANKS: Joe Biden’s State Of Disunion
Daily Caller
Biden has succeeded in one important thing: uniting Americans around his own divisiveness. Nearly seven in ten Americans have little to no confidence in his ability to bring the country together. Read More.

Ukraine crisis: US must lead again on energy before it is too late
Governor Rick Perry at FOXNews
President Biden is correct when he says “defending freedom will have costs,” but those costs shouldn’t be needlessly self-inflicted. Read More.

ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1793 – Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1863)
1904 – Dr. Seuss, American children’s book writer, poet, and illustrator (d. 1991)
1917 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1986)
1931 – Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, President of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate
1952 – Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian
1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
1968 – Daniel Craig, English actor and producer

WHAT I’M READING


 

BENEDICTION

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

 

Good Times?

Laissez les bons temps rouler.

Today is Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, if you will. Some refer to it as Shrove Tuesday.

It’s the day before Ash Wednesday and came about from the tradition of eating up all the rich or fatty foods in the house before beginning the traditional sacrifices for the Lenten season. Lent begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, Mardi Gras celebrations stretch from Twelfth Night, or

Mug Shots

Epiphany through the Tuesday before Lent. Traditions vary elsewhere in places ?like Mobile, Alabama where celebrations begin well before Thanksgiving.

I didn’t grow up in a tradition that celebrated Mardi Gras. And in fact I was a young adult before I was part of a religious tradition that placed much emphasis on Lent.

Still, I love a parade and have it on my bucket list (lower case BL) to make it to New Orleans during the festival one day. I’ve loved the addition of Carnivale at Kings Dominion. Carnivale has a Mardi Gras feel, even if it’s in the middle of the summer.

While I’ve not been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, Facebook reminded me that this time twelve years ago, I was there on a post-Katrina construction trip. We worked with a church to build a fence for a daycare they were beginning.

The Project
2010 Reconstruction MIssion Trip

Yes, it was a full five years after Katrina and there was still much damage. This was my second trip. On the first trip we restored three houses.

The church where we worked was on the major path for some of the Mardi Gras parade events. I managed to pick up several sets of beads still on the ground.

We did some good work on those trips. And we had some good times.

I’ve often thought about doing another project. Although, currently, in the shadow of Last Summer’s Great Unpleasantness (TM), I’m not quite up to the trip.

I’m coming back, slowly. Recovering, if you will, one of my three words for 2022. It’s taking longer than I’d like, longer than I anticipated. But I make progress every day.

In the meantime, ?I’m remembering the good times..

Harry Belafonte, American singer-songwriter and actor, Harry Belafonte, was born on this day in 1927.


 

 

 

ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1810 – Frédéric Chopin, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1849)
1904 – Glenn Miller, American trombonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1944)
1910 – David Niven, English soldier and actor (d. 1983)
1917 – Dinah Shore, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
1927 – Robert Bork, American lawyer and scholar, United States Attorney General (d. 2012)
1945 – Dirk Benedict, American actor and director
1947 – Alan Thicke, Canadian-American actor and composer (d. 2016)
1954 – Catherine Bach, American actress
1954 – Ron Howard, American actor, director, and producer

WHAT I’M READING


 

BENEDICTION

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26