2014 Lenten Meditation #1: The Scattered Community

"We've travelled through deserts, survived by His grace
We've kept souvenirs to commemorate
All the times that he washed the tears from our faces
Showed us new places to help renovate us"
- Renovatus

It is Ash Wednesday here in Auckland.

As we sat in St Patrick's Cathedral this morning reflecting on Ash Wednesday and this season of Lent, my mind drifted back to this time last year.

My scattered community were gathering for the first time, at least in a sense of spiritual togetherness, even if we weren't able to gather physically.

We were each travelling through our own seasons of wilderness.
But around that spiritual table, the seasons of wilderness became less lonely.

The deserts were still dry. Our souls were still parched.
But at least, we were together.
That's already better than wandering in the desert alone.

This year finds us in a different landscape.
Still together, but in a different way.

Yet around the ashes, all is the same.

We remember.
We remember the roads travelled.
We remember the dust.
We remember the struggle.

We remember that we are from dust, and to dust we return.