Trinity Sunday, by George Herbert

Lent, Day 2

Lord, who hast form'd me out of mud,
And hast redeemed me thorugh they blood,
And sanctified me to do good;

Purge all my sins done heretofore;
For I confess my heavy score,
And I will strive to sin no more.

Enrich my heart, mouth, hands in me,
With faith, with hope, with charity;
That I may run, rise, rest with thee.

Exactly what Lent is all about...

When the ash cross is made on people's foreheads on Ash Wednesday, the priest says, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." (So I'm told - have never participated in this ceremony.) I like the way that dust here becomes "mud" - much more English.

But my photo is of dust after all - M has been knocking out the ceiling and walls in our back bedroom and bathroom. You can see the shower taps in the foreground, and us reflected in the window. As you can imagine, we and all we own are covered in black, sooty dust from the last 100 years.