in the ashes

It's Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lent season.  TSO began emailing this story to me year and years ago and did it for a couple of years, I too now pass this on. This story has become an Ash Wednesday tradition of sorts, and something I look forward to. The tradition continues as now I share it with you.

Taken from Jacob the Baker by Noah benShea.

"...It was Mr. Gold who counted time and eventually spoke first.

'Jacob, where do you find the strength to carry on in life?'

'Life is often heavy only because we attempt to carry it,' said Jacob. 
'But, I do find a strength in the ashes.'

'In the ashes?' asked Mr. Gold.

'Yes,' said Jacob, with a confirmation that seemed to have traveled a 
great distance.

'You see, Mr. Gold, each of us is alone.  Each of us is in the great 
darkness of our ignorance.  And each of us is on a journey.

'In the process of our journey, we must bend to build a fire for 
light, and warmth, and food.

'But when our fingers tear at the ground, hoping to find the coals of 
another's fire, what we often find are the ashes.

'And, in these ashes, which will not give us light or warmth, there
may be sadness, but there is also testimony.

'Because these ashes tell us that somebody else has been in the night, 
somebody else has bent to build a fire, and somebody else has carried
on.

'And that can be enough, sometimes.'