God of this day,
Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day together? Really?
Though we equate one with death and the other with love, help me see how much these two days have in common.
Fill me with humility in the face of my failures, my humanness, and my desperate need for your love.
Fill me with love for the people in my life who bring me joy, as well as the people in my life who irritate or hurt me.
Between the black dust of ashes, and the red hearts of valentines, remind me that you are in the contrasts of life.
Guide me, these days of Lent, to love as you love.
To see myself and human, relying on you.
To see my companions as lovable.
To grow closer to you.
Amen