When the Night

"When the night comes, the land is dark and the moon is the only light... we won't be afraid... stand by me."

Stand By Me

Performed by Ben E King

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These words, or words like them could come from various religious texts. Indeed, this is a central theme in human existence. We aren't always sure, not always ready to respond in any compehensive manner when confronted with the unknown, the dark, the fearsome. And like the song, spirtual texts abound, encouraging that we not be afraid...stand by me.

And often we do just that. The moon is the only light we see before the dawn.

The Eagle Flies

Forgiveness

By Miesen and Groth

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I ... I'm a roamer in time
I travel alone
Throughout an endless journey
Home ... where is my home?

Fragments of a love life
I won't surrender
When the spirits are calling my name

And I'll go to heaven with you
I'll lay down my head on your pillow
and ask for forgiveness

Once ... I was just a child
Eyes so wide open
You left me broken hearted

Fly ... now I have to fly
Searching for the light
I won't surrender

When the spirits are calling my name
Then I will have passed all the sorrow and pain
And I'll go to heaven with you

I'll lay down my head on your pillow

and ask for forgiveness

Many when hearing the word 'forgiveness' think of error, wrongs against self or others; they don't quickly or easily think of forgiveness in its full sense, love. The Christ reminds his Disciples that of all the things there are, the greatest commandment is to love one another. And to this end forgiveness fulfills a very important mission.

 When he was given up to death the Lord called to God the father, 'forgive them father, for they know not what they do. Luke 23:18-34
So on this day, the Feast of Saint Valentine, do recall the words of the Christ and live.

Dust

"Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."

Dust In the Wind

by Kansas

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I close my eyes, only for a moment,

and the moment's gone

All my dreams, pass before my eyes,

a curiosity

Dust in the wind,

all they are is dust in the wind

Same old song, just a drop of water

in an endless sea

All we do, crumbles to the ground,

though we refuse to see

Dust in the wind,

All we are is dust in the wind

Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever

but the earth and sky

It slips away, all your money

won't another minute buy

Dust in the wind,

All we are is dust in the wind

Dust in the wind

All we are is dust in the wind

All we are is dust in the wind

Dust in the wind

Everything is dust in the wind

Everything is dust in the wind

This song always gets to me. It reminds me of the facts of my life, the base simplicity of it. We are, after all, dust. Fashioned from the elements of the mother earth, one with Her and our Creator. A creature among other creatures is our lot. We all, can and do, get caught up in distractions. Be it work, relationships, intellectual pursuits, political activity, or any other thing that removes our mind from  just this moment, who I am. Pray for me, brothers and sisters.

And our pride may swell; we forget that dust made us, and the earth that sustains us. The world gets a little hazy, technology makes it fuzzier. We imagine things to come, things to be, and things that just may not be true at all. We are afraid; we're angry. Our love is thwarted. We want to hurt, to injure, and then it happens: the call comes to tell us someone is suffering; they're dying, someone is dead. Our world re-focuses; it re-balances, like the earth spinning on its axis. In a second our perspective is turned, forced to turn to the most basic, the most immediate, just this moment. That is the moment we have, the moment we have been given.

 Lent, is a season guided by the sun and the moon, its date changing annually as a result, and we are ritually turned to these basic facts of life. Forty days of meditations, penance, revelations, a return to the most basic, to the center; it culminates in the Easter of the Lord. The resurrection and revelation by the Spirit. We celebrate its joyful arrival in a ritual of prayer and song.

The Lent as we know it has ancient roots stretching back to the Hebrews. The Torah tells us of a need and time for repentance. "Man begins from dust and ends in dust" Genesis 3:19; "the breath in our nostrils is as smoke... our body shall be turned to ashes, and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air... our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud... and shall be dispersed as a mist... for our time is a very shadow that passes away."  Wisdom 2:2-5, [Sirach]

What do we want our time on earth to be for? Will we come to the end of it and discover that we spent our time mostly breathing and eating? Surely the Lord of Hosts has made us for better, for the good? While we may hide from the facts of our life for a time, in the end we will be called; to what do we wish, to be attached to our name; our dust is in the wind.