Carnival or Shrove Tuesday?

Carnival has arrived this year wrapped in gauze.

Lent is early this year, arriving almost as early as it can, and today is Carnival.

And I don't feel festive.

Instead I feel in need of blankets and bandages.

Comfort and quiet.

Time to heal life's wounds.

Time to grow and seek quietly.

And so today's fog, the wet quietness of the day, the muffled shapes and sounds seem in tune with my mood.

A gauzey bandage over a bruised life.

A chance to heal.

A time of peace.

Today for me will be more of the 'Shrove Tuesday' than 'Carnival'.

Shrove Tuesday, when we confess our sins before our Lenten fast.

A time to confess and be healed.

May your Lent also start with the kind of day that you need.

LE

All Lenten Thoughts

ps: I am returning to rotating the meditation or antiphon that appears in this blog's description. I never intended to stop rotating it, but life got busy, and the one I had up seemed so appropriate; 'For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.'

pps: And look at the meditation that was up next: "I'm giving up being angry.". Great for the start of Lent, and great to follow my post 'The Others'. I think I smell the Holy Spirit in this...

Peace,
LE

A Different Feast

As the sun gazes warmly down
I look down the railbed;
A haze of moisture rises from the earth;
It's hot, and humid.
Making things a few thousand feet away faint and misty.
A freight-car on a siding is a misty, pinkish box.
The cattails sway beside me,
And I hear the train approaching in the distance,
It's horn sounds mournful.

And now the train is here and people are boarding.
I board last, and find a seat in an air-conditioned car,
And watch the ferns, rocks, forests and streams slide past my window,
The train gently rumbling along.

I'd much rather be out there,
With some silly kids,
Poking under rocks and spying on birds and bunnies,
Splashing in streams.
And getting bit by mosquitos.
Getting wet, sweaty, and muddy.

For me, that would be a feast.

Slow Down for Lent

February is finally over
Really it seems to me it went quickly
Not being a fan of cold and wet
(And few who have jobs or responsibilities they must commute for are fans)...
I am glad to see the back end
Of this too-often icy, stormy, and snowy month.
Too many people had accidents this month, and too many died.

And it occurs to me that the beginning of March can be just as bad.

If you must give up something for Lent,
Why not give up jockeying for position on the highway,
Zooming past the annoying slowpokes,
Barging into and through traffic,
And driving over the speed limit?

Take a little more time.
What's your rush?
If you speed through life,
You may just get to its end a little sooner than you might like,
And without noticing the beauty on the way.

Letting someone else go first might make a difference in their life, and driving a little slower and more carefully might save your life, and the lives of others too.

Taking it easy on the roads this Lent might be not only a fast, but a gift to yourself, your family, and to the people you share the roads with.
Truly this would be a Godly fast, and a good habit to retain once Lent is past.

I promise not to honk.