Ash Wednesday

Here are two verses from our closing song at church tonight:

We offer you our failures,
we offer you attempts,
the gifts not fully given,
the dreams not fully dreamt.
Give our stumblings direction,
give our visions wider view,
an offering of ashes, an offering to you.

Then rise again from ashes,
let healing come to pain,
though spring has turned to winter,
and sunshine turned to rain.
The rain we’ll use for growing,
and create the world anew
from an offering of ashes, an offering to you.

It's important for me to remember to offer God my failings and also to give God the very fact that I haven't fully given my gifts.

There is a lot of territory for reflection and self-examination in those observations.