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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with the Very Revd Dr Sarah Rowland Jones

Good morning. Today is Ash Wednesday, one of the most solemn days of the church calendar, as many Christians begin Lent –our preparation to commemorate Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, Good Friday and Easter.

Many Christians will go to church today, where we may receive the mark of the sign of the cross on our foreheads, in ash made from the palm branches blessed on Palm Sunday last year. In common with many other priests, I shall repeat the words ‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’

It’s a stark reminder of the inescapable truth that we are mortal – mere flesh and blood. The season of Lent on which we embark is not just a pious journey through a spiritual wilderness. It also challenges our physical embodiment.

In saying this, I’m not thinking primarily of giving up certain foods or drink. Rightly done, of course, this can indeed be a constructive physical discipline that promotes greater spiritual control, rather than just about losing a few kilos while foregoing chocolate!

No – for me, this year, with fires in California, and record high temperatures, the fact that I am dust underlines for me human interdependence with all life upon our planet. Lent challenges me to ask: How can I use the weeks ahead to recalibrate my impact on the rest of God's creation? What better habits of stewardship can I develop and sustain? What can I do with others?

Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal Word made flesh, teach us what a holy lent means for us frail children of dust. Amen