3/3 amos

Editor’s note: Amos is a church mouse, unable to use the keyboard shift keys and unschooled in the art of punctuation. With Fat Tuesday’s Mardi Gras coming back to life in New Orleans this year, the Lenten season has taken on new prominence. This week, Amos recalls when he first learned about Ash Wednesday.

the big deal about lent

boss a lot of the big

bugs and little mice

around here in the

church pew underworld

are roaming about

with what looks like

smudged plus signs

painted on their foreheads

i don t understand

it at all says me to my

friend freddie the flea

those aren t plus

signs says he to me

they re the sign of the cross

of repentance faith

and humility

boss it seems that last

wednesday was ash

wednesday the start of

the season of lent

and pastor leroy beetle put

those ashen cross signs

on the foreheads of all the

believers who came forward

it was a moving ceremony

boss i kept waiting to see if

anybody s face caught

on fire but nobody s did

you re supposed to give up

something for lent

says freddie to me

like what says me

something that s a sacrifice

something that costs you

something that you want

changed in your life

like a job or your

underwear says me

no no silly says he to me

you change things like bad

habits or give up sins that

multiply like rabbits -

i know says me i ll

give up mousetraps

or cats quite willingly

no no amos that s not

right you ve got to sacrifice

says freddie otherwise it s

fruitless it s no dice

what s the one thing

above every other thing

that makes your heart

sing when you think

of that thing

and boss i couldn t help it

i looked right at my last

crumpled up cheetos bag

no no says me

not my cheetos i

can t live without

those they re better

than doughnut holes

you need to give

them up you see

says freddie to me

they re taking the

place of jesus priority

in your life heart

and memory

you ve set your affection

on cheesy puffs of air

rather than the lord

of hosts so fair

which will it be says he

the cheetos god or

jesus the son of god

the whole point of lent

freddie says to me is to

repent and change your ways

then follow jesus all the rest

of your days

and boss he was right

the purpose of lent is

to model the life of jesus

that s what frees us

he didn t give up things

so much as he gave up

himself to die for me

and all he wants from me

is for me to give up me

repent of my iniquity

receive him in humility

experience his grace

and generosity as well as

his mercy peace and

tranquility

amos