Dear friends and families,
Today is Ash Wednesday, so seven weeks of Lent lie open before us. During Lent, we learn the discipline of discipleship (the two words mean essentially the same thing and come from the same root). In effect, the discipline of Lent is a way of learning how long we can bear to wear the cross before we feel compelled to take it off and hide it. That was the feeling I had when this morning we have had the sign of a cross on our foreheads using ash. It was made from burning the palm crosses from last year’s Palm Sunday service. The cross drawn on our forehead was very visible, so people will see it everywhere we go after the service. Some will understand and others will think ‘how weird!’ For that reason, many of us will leave the service feeling more than a little self-conscious I observed. This morning, we were reminded of Jesus’ saying that “ I am the gate for the sheep” John 10:7. So, in this Lent season we can open the gate for the things please our God and also close the gate for all the things that not only hurt us but also hurt our almighty God.
May the Lord bless us as we yield to His easy yoke of love and live a Lent of great holiness. Amen.
Today is Ash Wednesday, so seven weeks of Lent lie open before us. During Lent, we learn the discipline of discipleship (the two words mean essentially the same thing and come from the same root). In effect, the discipline of Lent is a way of learning how long we can bear to wear the cross before we feel compelled to take it off and hide it. That was the feeling I had when this morning we have had the sign of a cross on our foreheads using ash. It was made from burning the palm crosses from last year’s Palm Sunday service. The cross drawn on our forehead was very visible, so people will see it everywhere we go after the service. Some will understand and others will think ‘how weird!’ For that reason, many of us will leave the service feeling more than a little self-conscious I observed. This morning, we were reminded of Jesus’ saying that “ I am the gate for the sheep” John 10:7. So, in this Lent season we can open the gate for the things please our God and also close the gate for all the things that not only hurt us but also hurt our almighty God.
May the Lord bless us as we yield to His easy yoke of love and live a Lent of great holiness. Amen.
Here is a poem for Ash Wednesday by Jan Richardson from her book, Circle of Grace.
All those days
you felt like dust,
like dirt,
as if all you had to do
was turn your face
toward the wind
and be scattered
to the four corners
or swept away
by the smallest breath
as insubstantial
did you not know
what the Holy One
can do with dust?
This is the day
we freely say
we are scorched.
This is the hour
we are marked
by what has made it
through the burning.
This is the moment
we ask for the blessing
that lives within
the ancient ashes,
that makes its home
inside the soil of
this sacred earth.
So let us be marked
not for sorrow.
And let us be marked
not for shame.
Let us be marked
not for false humility
or for thinking
we are less
than we are
but for claiming
what God can do
within the dust,
within the dirt
within the stuff
of which the world
is made
and the stars that blaze
in our bones
and the galaxies that spiral
inside the smudge
we bear.
Have a blessed lent season.
Rev Kathreen Shabaz
All those days
you felt like dust,
like dirt,
as if all you had to do
was turn your face
toward the wind
and be scattered
to the four corners
or swept away
by the smallest breath
as insubstantial
did you not know
what the Holy One
can do with dust?
This is the day
we freely say
we are scorched.
This is the hour
we are marked
by what has made it
through the burning.
This is the moment
we ask for the blessing
that lives within
the ancient ashes,
that makes its home
inside the soil of
this sacred earth.
So let us be marked
not for sorrow.
And let us be marked
not for shame.
Let us be marked
not for false humility
or for thinking
we are less
than we are
but for claiming
what God can do
within the dust,
within the dirt
within the stuff
of which the world
is made
and the stars that blaze
in our bones
and the galaxies that spiral
inside the smudge
we bear.
Have a blessed lent season.
Rev Kathreen Shabaz
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