{"id":129,"date":"2012-02-22T12:20:37","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T17:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=129"},"modified":"2012-02-22T12:20:37","modified_gmt":"2012-02-22T17:20:37","slug":"ash-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2012\/02\/22\/ash-wednesday\/","title":{"rendered":"Ash Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is more hunger for love and appreciation in the world than for bread.<\/em> – Mother Teresa<\/p>\n

Today I begin my Lenten journey with millions of other Christians as I receive my ashes on my forehead. The sign of the cross will remind me of my mortality and my life\u2019s tie to Jesus\u2019 suffering, death and Resurrection. It will begin my 40-day journey that will hopefully bring me closer to God and God\u2019s purpose for me.<\/p>\n

I will try to fast today to empty myself of distraction, bad habits, selfishness, and over-indulgence. Instead, I will put aside personal wants and replace them with the hunger pains of those who suffer and hunger for love and appreciation. Whose pains are these, you might ask? The man I met at Gateway last night still battling his addiction \u2026 the upset friend who lost her nephew in a car crash \u2026 the student worried about paying her bills \u2026 the child who comes to school hungry today \u2026 the family of a soldier in Afghanistan \u2026 or the middle schooler who just wants to be accepted. People all around us suffer and need our love. By forgoing not only food but self satisfaction, I will hopefully feel a kind of solidarity with my brothers and sisters who suffer. No I don\u2019t stand in their shoes. I simply want to feel that my humanity is linked to theirs. We are all children of God and we all deserve love and appreciation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that today should be the only day I realize this. Ash Wednesday, for me, helps me to refocus, slow down and turn toward healing and hope. I take time to look at my life, who and (whose) I am and what I am doing to strengthen my relationship with Christ. If Jesus could suffer for me to the point of dying on the cross, then I should be able give back and sacrifice in return. Hopefully the fasting will allow me to empty my pride, my complacency, my routine and my comfortable life so that I might feel the hunger pangs of others and want change that only God can provide.<\/p>\n

So today I will fill my body with prayer while embracing the hunger. I will pray for this college, for all who make it the special place it is and for the students who give our lives meaning. I will pray for all who go without and those who are hurting physically, emotionally or spiritually. I will try to walk with my head held high, offering a hug or smile along the way, a listening ear or stretched out arm.<\/p>\n

May we all begin this Lenten season open to God\u2019s abundant love and ready to empty ourselves of obstacles to his love. Let us fill our appetites with prayer and loving others.<\/p>\n

Kaky<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is more hunger for love and appreciation in the world than for bread. – Mother Teresa Today I begin my Lenten journey with millions of other Christians as I receive my ashes on my forehead. The sign of the …<\/p>\n

Ash Wednesday<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kaky"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-25","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}