Ashes and new fallen snow ...

This morning the site where the church stood was finally cleared ... the sand and gravel were smoothed and the last vestiges of the old church were removed ... The only marker noting her passing is the church sign, which will be changed to provide folks with information about our life happenings as a church ...

The day, Ash Wednesday, ended with Mother Nature providing a heavy coating of white to cover the lot on which the building once stood ... like a canvas awaiting an artist, the lot will be a pristine white canvas awaiting the work of art that will in time rise from it once again ...

Today is a day of penitence and looking back ... today as a community we look back on what we've lost and we begin to look forward to what we have to gain ...

It's hard to realize that the grand old building that for 105 years has been at the heart of our faith community is actually gone ... I still head down the street and expect to see it, to step through the doors and go into the offices that were created just before our arrival here in 2000 ... I still have the keys on my key ring ...

I expect the vision in my head to be the reality in my eyes ... but there is a disconnect ... something we expected to remain for another Century or so, has been ruthlessly wrenched from us ... and like a family losing a loved one - we've lost an old friend ...

Today we haven't marked our foreheads with ashes ... today the fresh fallen snow has covered our ashes and invited us to move into the Lenten Journey that leads us to Easter ... our Lenten Journey may continue for a couple of years ... but we will one day stand gazing at a resurrected Church Building on Main St ... it may take time, but today the snow has offered us a canvas that is clean and blank ... the rest is up to the people of God who are temporarily homeless here in Minnedosa ...

dayenu,