Ash wednesday

I tried to blog this the other day but then lost everything so I'm a couple of days behind.
Ash Wednesday is with us and so begins lent.
It was my privilege this evening to preside at our Ash Wednesday Communion.
Suddenly the words I had heard so many times before took on a new significance, a new weight of meaning as I slowly pronounced them to the gathered congregation.
 Not just the Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return, Turn from you sins and be faithful. But each penitential sentence through the service, and I was truly penitent for my own sins.
the communion too was beautiful, the realisation of the sacrifice of Jesus, the forgiveness of God and the shared meal which draws us all together. I went home in the darkness and silence blessed in a new way.
I have set as my Lenten discipline to sit in silence for at least 15 minutes each day just listening to God in contemplative prayer. This is something I don't find easy but over the last few weeks have felt very strongly it was something I need to do.
I trust God will speak to me in the silence if I but listen.