A MAN AND HIS DOG

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years.

He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"

"This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.

"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.

"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up."

The man gestured, and the gate began to open. "Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

"Excuse me!" he called to the man. "Do you have any water?"

"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in."

"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.

"There should be a bowl by the pump," said the man.

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.

"This is Heaven," he answered.

"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too."

"'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's Hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?" "No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind."


Cheers,

Paul (A.)

STORY OF THE DAY - AIMING LOW

I need you to come home soon, she said.
I'm walking around like a woman who's
let herself go.

From StoryPeople.

ASH WEDNESDAY

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

(Book of Common Prayer)

Joel 2:12-14

Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain-offering and a drink-offering
for the Lord, your God?

Psalm 103:8-14

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

‘Beware of practising 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.

Ann Fontaine reflects on Ash Wednesday at what the tide brings in.

Why do we gather on this day? Why do we receive ashes on our foreheads with the sign of the cross? What are we doing here? Do you notice the gospel asks us not to make a display and yet many of us wear our ashes all day. I have been thinking about this "disconnect" between our actions and our readings.

Read the rest of Ann's fine post.

In the end, it's about the heart.

FOUR GOP HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE...

...ride again tonight to warn us of the Last Judgement upon America...nay upon the entire world...if Obama is reelected. And the four may even spare time to turn on each other in their final debate. I'm telling you, folks, this is a horse race. We might even see a brokered Republican convention, something we have not seen in either party in quite a while. Don't forget to tune in. As for me, I'll be in church.

JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS

adamyoung: I took these incredible illustrations by a British illustrator named Simon Smith and put them to an Explosions In The Sky song. ('To West Texas')

The artist, @curmudgeonlysi, says in the comments:

hi, the images here were made by me - if you'd like a copy of the work, it's available as a downloadable movie/slideshow and also in book form [with meditations by my friend chris goan] from proost.co.uk...

cheers,

si smith

A moving blend of image and music.

H/T to Tim Chesterton, who titles his post, 'Something to get us in the mood for Lent'.

1st ANNIVERSARY OF EARTHQUAKE IN CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND

Christchurch Cathedral after the earthquake

Bosco Peters at Liturgy:

On the anniversary of the Christchurch devastating 6.3 earthquake we remember those who died, those injured, and all we lost. We commit ourselves to a journey, hoping for new, transformed life from these ashes.

See Bosco's blog for more.

The cathedral was deconsecrated and partially demolished. What's left standing will be made safe, until a decision is made on the future of the structure.

I'm late to the anniversary for the folks in Christchurch. It's already Ash Wednesday there, and Lent has begun.

LAST CALL FOR REVELRY!

King cake

Sazerac cocktail





Laissez les bons temps rouler aujourd'hui, Mardi Gras, mais pas demain, le mercredi des Cendres, ni pendant les quarante jours du carême.

(Excuse my French, and please correct me if I have it wrong.)

Sazerac photo from Wikipedia.

KREWE OF 'TIT R∃X PARADE

All right, you naughty-minded people, the name of the krewe is not Tit Rex, but 'tit Rex, short for petit, meaning little Rex, pronounced T-Rex. The krewe paraded in New Orleans on Saturday, with their floats made from shoe boxes. The big Krewe of Rex, which parades on Mardi Gras day, charged infringement, thus the reversed 'e' in the name, which I'm not able to type in lower case, because I cannot find a code. I hope big Rex doesn't sue me.

From NOLA.com:

The name ‘Tit Rex was a shortened form of Petit Rex and was pronounced like the dinosaur. In January the mini krewe announced that, though the pronunciation would remain the same, the name would be changed slightly by adding the phonetic symbol schwa (an inverted e) in place of the normal e in Rex. Though the name change may have avoided a legal showdown, it produced plentiful typographical troubles.

Indeed!

See the NOLA.com video of the wee parade below.



Adorable! My children, grandchildren, and I made shoe box floats for school parades, years ago for my children, and many years ago for me.

RIGHT FOR THE TIMES

STORY OF THE DAY - VOICE OF REASON

Sometimes I think I should just keep my
opinions to myself, she said, but
someone has got to be the voice of
reason.

From StoryPeople.