lent reality check

As a reality check, lent is a season to remember the facts. There is the fact that I am made from love and from dust, and to love and to dust shall I return. This first fact is recalled by literally imprinting dust on the forehead on Ash Wednesday in the form of a cross. Made from the burn palms of last year's Palm Sunday, the blessed ashes are worn all that day, until washed away with the day's grime. With the ashes the celebration of Mardi Gras falls silent.
 
Lent is not about giving up. It...