At the start of Lent, we take time to remind ourselves that life indeed is limited: that we will die.

We place ashes on our foreheads as a visible reminder to others that we know that our bodies will turn to ash one day, that life is indeed precarious, but that we are also a resurrection people.

We believe that more lies beyond this end, and so our ashes are marked by the sign of faith — the cross — at once a symbol of our God’s destruction and His greatest triumph.

We listen to the words that the priest or minister says to us as he places the ashes on our forehead: “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

What is it that holds us back from really living? What do we have to die to — or, at the very least, fast from — in order to liberate ourselves from our bad habits? What do we have to give of ourselves to others, to causes, to God, so that we may stretch ourselves into new ways of being? How does prayer center us into growth?

This is the stuff of Lent.

Fast by reducing your consumption of a daily habit by one level for the day. (For example, order a grande coffee at Starbucks instead of your usual venti.)

Pray for the estimated 3.8 billion people in the world who live on less than $2 per day.

Give the money you save (at least $1) to your FastPrayGive Bowl. (Your FastPrayGive Bowl can be any sort of container you set aside to hold the money saved from various fasting challenges our calendar offers throughout Lent. At the end of Lent, the money collected in the bowl can be used for whatever charity you choose.)

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