Ash Wednesday, which we'll celebrate this week, begins the season of Lent - a time to ponder those things which separate us from God, and to return to God. That's what repentance is all about.

Of course, what repentance will look like in your own life will depend on you. In some faith traditions, people talk about doing 'penance' for their sins. The idea isn't that you have to somehow pay God back for the mistakes you make, but that there are things you can do to help you in turning away from sin and toward God. Thinking about it in this way, penance makes a lot of sense to me. Here's a poem from Kathy Galloway...

"Penance"

for self-absorption
– many hours in the company of three-year-olds

for carelessness
– a year’s close study of an elder tree

for injustice
– giving thanks for the rain and sun that fall on you anyway

for pride
– learning to see the funny side of your coals of fire

What's keeping you from growing in God's grace? What can do to repent, to return to God, to once again come alive in the love that God has for you?