Don’t get me wrong — I love Christmas, and Easter, and Advent… but there’s a special love for Lent. I asked myself, “Why, Evan? Why do you love Lent? Lent’s so dreary, so deprivational, so austere…”

Well, I love Lent because it helps me live simpler, so that I may simply live! Lent helps me remember that I eat to live, and not live to eat. The hunger of fasting reminds me how mortal I am, that I need someone higher than myself to guide me, lead me. It puts my life in the proper perspective, and actually makes the little things in life more meaningful.

And as a Catholic Christian, Lent (especially on Ash Wednesday) smacks me in the face, smears my brow with dust, reminds me that I am dust, and to dust I shall return… we are all mere children of dust.

Yet this is beautiful, because I don’t stop there. None of us stop there. Though all our possessions will return to dust, we don’t end there. Depending on our Faith in Christ, our dust will rise, reassemble, get an upgrade, and then the real life begins!

And I WANT REAL LIFE!

I want Resurrection! Didn’t you see the preview Jesus gave us when He rose? Didn’t you see how He wasn’t some zombie or half-dead corpse? Didn’t you see how He didn’t exact vengeance on Peter (for denying Him)? Didn’t you see? And don’t you want that kind of life, love and forgiveness yourself? and for your beloveds?