Lent is almost over

Anyone notice my changing blog headers? I have been enjoying a little fun with these. This header and the one I've had for the past month, are details from a painting titled "Lenten Lily"
















One more week and we will be celebrating Palm Sunday. And then, a full week of worship services leading up to the Great Allelujah and Easter time.

I will be posting about our paintings that we are working on for the Vigil readings. Oh my, they are challenging, hard work, yet so satisfying.

Here we are, a team of artists, working on a Saturday morning, as we have been doing for the entire Lenten time.

Ash Wednesday

I have posted about this before, one of my favorite church services of the year is Ash Wednesday. I welcome the time of silence and contemplation. I even like the somber colors of Lent. 

Today in my copy of the Chicago Tribune, I found an essay by a columnist that I often enjoy, Mary Schmich.  The entire article can be found here http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-schmich-0309-20110309,0,6109678.column .

She writes about "clearing out the closets of the soul". I think her article sums up my thoughts better than I can. She articulates how welcome self-restraint, self--denial, and self-reflectiveness can be in our culture of plentiful choice, large portions, and constant entertainment.