With Ash Wednesday, the shadowy journey of Lent has begun.

Lent is a season that doesn’t bring warm fuzzies like Christmas or Easter. You’re not going to find a Hallmark card wishing you an Awesome Ash Wednesday or a Luscious Lent. It’s 40 days of dust, ashes, temptation, self-denial, gloom, desert and sorrow. Yet there’s something about the darkness of Lent that can teach us about the light of Easter. 

In dark times foisted on me, I try to learn courage and dependence on God. 

In dark times that I bring on myself, I learn the beauty of forgiveness and extend compassion to those who share the same weakness. 

In dark times I learn that I want to return to the light … and I pray that the light will come. In the meantime, I hope the lessons I learn in the darkness will keep me from coming back. 

Come, darkness of Lent. For only in the darkness will we cherish the splendor of Easter light.