Psalm 78:1-39 • Jeremiah 7:21-34 • Romans 4:13-25 • John 7:37-52
He [God]
remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. —
Psalm 78:39
Whoever
believes in me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
— John 7:38
It’s not Lent that
I prepare for, but Ash
Wednesday’s certainty that
I am but “ashes to
ashes, dust to dust.”
Restless to plumb the
Mystery, my mind wants
to
rest anyplace but in this certainty.
These molecules, I
breathe: am I not part of
Something larger, carbon recycled from the
flesh of a whale, chloride from the salty
bay?
In the end, I can
follow my breath, pausing
before the exhale.
This is something I can do.
But the waiting for
faith. Not so easy.
My prayer for life (and
death):
Please, dear God, let
me rest in the peace of
Your living waters.
— Leslie Middleton
