Lengthening

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him,
and he will bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:5

Yesterday I noticed the daylight linger. Of course, daylight has been increasing since the winter solstice. But somehow, as I kept my quiet Ash Wednesday vigil, I was aware of the lengthening of the day.
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The word Lent itself is about this lengthening; derived from Old English lencten, meaning lengthen, it was the word for Spring. As I commit myself once again to this journey, I sense the path lengthening before me, as if it were being unfurled a few steps at a time in response to my movement. 

Not a set path. Not a predetermined length. My way not fixed, but fluid.

Here, at the very outset, I am bid to trust. A gift. A saving grace. I pray for lengthening. Of my soul, my spirt. Of yearning and resolve. Of the sending and return.