God of grace and demand, you challenge us to reclaim our baptismal identity as those whose lives are built on your call and your promises--not on the easy, seductive forces around us. Stir our hearts that we may engage your transforming word anew and rediscover its power to save. Amen.
-- Walter Brueggeman, A Way Other Than Our Own
Here is a helpful description of the role of this historical day:
Ash Wednesday: The Church As a Midwife
