Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  
           
And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When my wife and I were dating, now over two decades ago, we would often take walks in cemeteries here in northern Michigan. Cemeteries are wonderful places to walk. They are quiet. They usually have lots of trees and grass. The walkways and roads in cemeteries are safe as traffic proceeds slowly, and it is always so interesting to look at the tombstones. Most memorial stones are quite plain and just have a name, a birth date, a dash and a death date. Some of the stones we found in our walk were of people who were born and who died long before we lived or even before our grandparents immigrated to the United States. Some graves were well kept with flowers, and others looked absolutely forsaken and ignored. The graves of children were most poignant, and we would wonder what happened to this child or to that young person. We would walk amongst them but not talk all that much. There is something somber about a cemetery. And yet, we would find these places of final repose beautiful and powerful reminders of the shortness of life here on this earth. Cemeteries are good places to walk.

In the same way, Lent is a powerful time of year for us to enter. Today we begin the journey in this season. Many will worship today, entering churches and having placed on their foreheads by their pastor the mark of Lent, ashes. In the shape of the cross, this black and dirty mark is a sign of sin and death and yet something more! Lent is a beautiful time of year, and we walk amongst its days realizing that we are people of the earth. We live, we breathe, we dance and laugh, we succeed and fail, and then we die. In Matthew's Gospel for Ash Wednesday, we are reminded not to "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal." Walking in Lent, we see the fragility of life, the certainty of death and the hope of the God who raised his Son to life nearly two thousand years ago.

May these Lenten days be Holy Spirit filled for you and for those with whom you walk.