Ash Valentine.

I am informed that the last time Ash Wednesday fell on St. Valentine's Day was 1945. The following July we tested the first A-bomb and the world entered the age of nuclear war. 

COINCIDENCE? 

Talk about ashes to ashes

Well, the sad fact is, we're all going to die, but we hope not all at once. Life has been compared to a stream, a river, a race, but it's just a road. We merge into the lane with a peer group, but almost immediately some are taken off the road. As we continue, our cohort does all right, but the farther down the road we get the faster we lose members of our group. Then, one day, we each are diverted off the road ourselves. We hope to go somewhere better, somewhere where all roads end in joy. But most of us are not in a rush to get there. 

It does feel weird to have the day o' love coincide with the annual reminder by the church that we are going to die. But is it so weird? For goodness' sake, there are enough stories of people dying for love. Really, though, we ought to have more stories of people living for love -- devoting themselves through all the difficulties of life to serve those we love, and of course the God who made us from dust. Well, the universal drama of death always commands the audience's attention.

Enough of this death stuff. May your heart be gladdened on this Valentine's Day, and may you not get lousy candy. If you're gonna break a Lenten pledge right out of the starting gate, at least get some quality candy out of it. Good chocolate is da bomb!