Matters of the Heart

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“Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your hearts, with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow; tear your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord your God, for He is merciful and compassionate, very patient, full of faithful love, and ready to forgive.”

- Joel 2:12-13 CEB -

I am not sure the statistical probability of Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday falling on the same day, but here we are. From the outside it seems as two contrary ideas. One sometimes vaulted as an overly commercialized day where one is expected to express one’s love to his or her loved ones. The other is a day where liturgical church people mark the start of the journey to Easter – a celebration of Christ’s life, death & resurrection – with a time of serious reflection, sacrifice & confession.

Yet despite each of the inherent differences, both have a pull to the heart of things quite literally. No one wants a thoughtless Valentine or an insincere gesture. In the same way, something about the grittiness of dirt and ashes remind us of the core of our being in God. The dust of our creation that can all so easily make a holy mess of things also can stand as the raw elemental building blocks of life itself. Something about recognizing our own fragile but pinnacle place in God’s plan for life points us to the meaning of everything. God’s heart goes out to make us from that speck of dust into a Spirit-breathed creation that can do life on its own.


God’s steadfast love, sometimes called loving kindness, faithful love, or even gracious love, is at the very core of who God is. Appearing over 200 times in the Old Testament, steadfast love is how a God who is a million times bigger than we can imagine repeatedly and emphatically continues to draw us towards connection. This same God continues to woe us to return, repent & reclaim the place God has in our lives. If this is not true love, I do not know what is. 

To Read More: Joel 2:12-17, Hosea 14:1-2

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