Author: clfuu

For our Christian siblings around the world, today is Ash Wednesday, a day to ponder, among other things, the mortality of all living beings. Rather than be a sad occasion, though, it is an opportunity to fully embrace all of what it means to be human.

Lora Brandis writes this prayer for the day: “Dear holy one, mark us for all to see that we are connected by our mortality. Impermanence, mortality, ashes, dust: this is the truth of being human. Remind us that this truth is what connects us. Remind us, also, that from love we come and to love we will return.”

What is something that you fully embrace when pondering your own mortality?

Whether it is called Mardi Gras, or Carnival, or something else entirely, many people around the world today celebrate an opportunity to cut loose in extravagant display before the more somber season of Lent begins.

How can you cut loose today?

“We form a web of compassionate listening when individuals among us, embodying vulnerability, name the fears that grip their hearts, the joys that buoy their spirits. We speak the language of love.” -Erika Hewitt

How can you embody vulnerability today?

My daughter has a lot of people she calls her “best” friends. She sees no conflict in naming more than one person her “best friend forever.” There is no competition for her love, and no ranking of who is better than the others. To her, the love of friendship is based in abundance and not scarcity. It is a joy to behold. -Rev. Michael Tino (CLF)

Who are your BFFs?

“These are friends. They are loves. It’s
kind of a surprise that you should love
someone so much who would eat the butter
on the table if they could get away with it,
and gets endless hair on the sofa when they
aren’t even supposed to be on the furniture.”
-from “When Your Best Friend Has Four or So Legs,” by Ninán Soto

Have you had animal friends in your life? If so, hold them in your heart today.