Praying In Color

Hi there, I hope your week is off to a great start!

I wonder if you've ever have trouble praying? Sometimes it is hard to find just the right words to pray, sometimes our minds wander while we pray, other times when we pray we get caught up worrying about the situation rather than lifting it up in prayer.

Praying in Color was developed by a woman who was having trouble concentrating while she was praying. She sat down one afternoon with a piece of paper, a pen, and some colored pens. She started by writing a name of a friend who had cancer and then started coloring and doodling with her pencils. Before long she discovered that she had prayed for a number of people in about 20 minutes and her mind did not wander and she did not find her self worrying like she normally did.

I encourage you to try it out as you pray for the folks on our prayer list. Get out some paper grab some crayons, colored pencils, or markers and pray.

If you are looking for a little inspiration or are not sure where to start check out her web site @prayingincolor.com

Where did the ashes come from?

Connor and Evan wondered where the ashes we used last night at the Ash Wednesday service came from. This is a good quesiton and I am sure they are not alone in their curiosity so I'll share. But first a few words about why we would use ashes in the first place. 

Ash Wed. centers on our own human mortality and the confession of sin before God, thus the long prayer of confession from Psalm 51. It also marks the beginning of lent as we journey from death to life in Christ's resurrection on Easter. 

The ashes symbolize the dust and broken debris of our lives as well as the reality that eventually each of us will die. This is why we use the words from Genesis 3:19, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."  

The ashes used yesterday came from burning a few of last year's palm branches that we used on Palm Sunday and the written prayers that the Bible study group wrote on Tuesday. 

God's Peace, Rev. Mike Fry