In Lent we pray that the church will be the wheat that bears it fruit in dying. The fruit of the church is not its organizational prowess, or its strength in numbers. It is the love of God that is shared in a thousand different ways, from generation to generation. It is the love of God that links us, that chains us, and that is good to be remembered. When everything else goes away, our love still remains.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8