Day 1—Ash Wednesday, February 18

Ash Wednesday brings us to the truth we often avoid: we are dust, and to dust we shall return. It is not a day for pretending strength. It is a day for honesty about our frailty, our wandering, our misplaced trust, and our deep need for mercy.

Through the prophet Micah, we hear a prayer rising from a weary people: “Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock that belongs to you…” -Micah 7:14

It is the cry of those who know they need leading. The plea of sheep who know they cannot guide themselves. 

We begin this holy season acknowledging that we, too, need shepherding. We have chased voices that promised security but delivered anxiety, pursued success but neglected mercy, sought control instead of trust. We have climbed many hills and wandered many paths, and Ash Wednesday invites us to admit how much we need to be led.

Ash Wednesday is the day we stop insisting we know the way. It is the day we confess our limits. And it is the day we dare to pray: Shepherd your people.

The story of scripture does not begin with our faithfulness, but with God’s faithfulness. Again and again, God is revealed not as a distant ruler, but as a faithful Shepherd, one who gathers us who are scattered and stumbling, and leads us with patience and steadfast love.

The ashes traced on our foreheads mark both our mortality and our belonging. We are dust, yes … but we are dust claimed by God. Dust that belongs to God and to one another, we are dust of the same flock … Dust that is not left alone on the hillside.

We enter these forty days as people learning again the Shepherd’s voice, the voice that guides toward mercy, humility, repentance, and restoration. In this season, you are invited to walk that path day by day by subscribing to receive a Lenten devotional each day. These reflections are written by members of our own church community - people who are learning what it means to live as sheep who trust the Shepherd; people learning what it is to be shaped by the Shepherd’s way. Each devotion offers a moment to pause and notice where we are being led, where we resist being led, and where we are called to embody the Shepherd’s care in our own lives.

This Lenten journey is not about proving our devotion. It is about returning. Returning to the fold. Returning to the God who hears even our simplest prayer: Shepherd your people.

As you pray, read, and reflect through these Lenten days, may you find yourself drawn again to green pastures and still waters. May your soul be restored, and may you discover anew the grace and love of the Shepherd who walks with us.

Today, we begin with ashes. And with a prayer on our lips …

Shepherd your people. Amen

-Leigh Sackett