Friday after Ash Wednesday
Deuteronomy 7:12-16 Psalms 31, 35, 95 Titus 2:1-15 John 1:35-42
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Mark 10:17-31
During the season of Lent, we have the opportunity to take a step back from how we live daily. We may give something up — a food, a habit — to make space in our days to examine what is precious to us and what is expendable.  We vow to continue to incorporate the insights we’ve gained and focus on what really matters in our lives, in the lives we touch, and in our relationship to God. But will we? Can we?
Mark 10 shows us how one person reacted to this challenge. A rich man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. The answer he got from Jesus seemed simple: sell everything and give it to the poor. The rich man retreats — he will not or cannot do what is asked of him. He can’t distinguish what is expendable in this life from what is precious for a life lived with and for God. What makes us different from the rich man? When Lent is over, can we continue to ask ourselves daily if we are focused on the precious or on the expendable?
-Sheryl Walter