Who has a dirty heart?

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And put a new and right spirit within me.

Psalm51:10

The last verse of today’s psalm is a good emphasis for Lent – trying to have the right spirit. Supposedly it was written when David had been “found out” by the prophet Nathan for playing around with Bathsheba and sending her husband to certain death in battle.

While most of us haven’t been as flagrant as David, there are always times when we know that we need new spirits. In our current time of economic distress, many of us have been “found out” for our supposition that the good times would stick around forever.

In preparing ourselves for the rebirth of Easter, we can use these 40 wilderness days to clean out our hearts and make room for those things which really matter, which last beyond the immediate, and which bring life to us and to the world around us.