Today is the Monday before Ash Wednesday.
I just learned from my Merriam Webster word of the day that today has a name, Collup Monday. Collup refers to a fatty meat, such as bacon. In eighteenth century England people would have a meal of fried bacon and eggs. I am presuming that this was a great indulgence set to celebrate the goodness and fat of life before we set off into the wilderness with Jesus on Wednesday.
I chose this photo that my husband took of a grass that looks a lot like the wilderness to me. I love the blues and greens of the background, even as I note the gray stone of the foreground. There is life in the wilderness as evidenced with the grass. There is hope of a beautiful future in a peaceful land in the distance.
We celebrate the goodness of life as we prepare to examine ourselves and our paths of discipleship during Lent.