Kansas Got It, Yo

Sponsor: www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-crowley-b05a8423/  Ps 95:8 If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Remember that really cool song "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas?

I sure do.

"All we are is dust in the wind...just a drop of water in an endless sea...everything is dust in the wind." 

The author of the 1977 hit, Kerry Livgren, became an evangelical Christian in 1980 but always refers to his lyricism in the '70s with this caveat:

"I was only expressing my own searching for something. If you look at my lyrics, even 'Dust in the Wind' is a song about the transitory nature of our physical lives. That falls under the umbrella heading of God."

Hmm.

Just as an aside, that mega-hit was actually a follow-up to "Carry On, Wayward Son," a song in which Livgren's spiritual pen references: "There'll be peace when you are done...lay your weary head to rest...don't you cry no more."

A nod to JC? More hmm. Today, I'm hearing "Dust in the Wind" over and over in my mind's ear, what with it being Ash Wednesday and all.
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Listen, as we Christians celebrate the first day of Lent with ashes on our foreheads, it occurs to me that Kansas really got it.

Not sure you do? BibleInfo.com defines it this way:

"Roman Catholic churches of the Latin Rite use this service to prepare church members to better appreciate the death and resurrection of Christ through self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, and self-denial. Ashes from the burned palms of the preceding year's Palm Sunday are blessed. With these ashes, the priest marks a cross on the foreheads of worshipers, saying, 'Remember, man, that dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return' (Genesis 3:19 KJV). Besides showing sorrow for their sins, those who honor Ash Wednesday add an additional meaning; the need to prepare for a holy death."

There you have it. For forty days, we can all try to be a little more introspective; a little more giving; a little more humble and appreciative.

Think of it as a purging 40-day cleanse for your soul, yo. We can do it -- in fact, I bet if we really focus and pray, we can kick a little ash, Capsice?

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