A Devotion for Same Ashes, Different Years
If I’m honest, I must admit that Ash Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the church year. Since beginning work in disaster recovery, it’s taken on even more significance. Over two years of working with dirt and dust and rubble and broken things will do that to you.
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season we call Lent. It is a day that we face that we are mortal beings. We receive the mark of ashes upon our forehead as we remember that deep reverent truth that we come from dust, and to dust we shall return. The life before us, in all its beauty and pain, will not always be. We will die. Our families and friends and all creation will die.
Scary? You bet.
But in this frightening realty is a sort of reassurance. The world we find ourselves in tells us that the ultimate goal is to never age, to never fail, to never let your wrinkles or weaknesses show. Our dust-marked brows say otherwise. Today we recall that we are fallible, flawed, and formed by God’s fiery love. To the dust we shall return, the fallow earth that God first blew breath upon.
Our confession this day is that these bodies we inhabit, though made in the image of God, are not God. We are not tasked with being the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the world.
Ash Wednesday lets us give up any illusion that we can or should be.
Ash Wednesday enters us into a season of letting go. Letting go of hang-ups and distractions, compulsions and indulgences, yes. But this day and season also helps us to let go of the deep fear rooted in every human heart – the fear of death and loneliness. On this day when we recognize our own mortality, we repent and remember our own brokenness. In doing so, we let go of the paralysis that comes in thinking we have to fix it all, heal every wound, or dry every tear. We let go and allow God to do God’s work of winnowing away the excess, pruning the overgrowth so that restoration can begin.
The stark beauty of this day is that it whittles away all of the mess.
It gets straight to the point:
You are mortal, God is not.
You will die, God has destroyed death.
Your body will fade, God’s promises will not.
This my friends, is good news.
When we set apart a day to remember that we are dust, we recognize that God specializes in all things dust and dirt. From ashes and dust, God has and still is making beautiful things.
If you are able, I hope you will find a local congregation to celebrate Ash Wednesday with.
To be marked by dust and ash, and to hear the words:
“O mortal, you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Thanks be to the God who meets us in our brokenness and never lets us go.
With you on the journey,
Amy
P.S. As we begin the journey of Lent, here is a helpful resource I’ve found as a sort of alternative “giving something up.” Blogger Sarah Bessey offers 40 ways to connect in daily, diverse ways with the season. I’ll be following her suggestions, and if they appeal to you, I invite you to do the same: https://sarahbessey.substack.com/p/40-simple-practices-for-lent
You will die, God has destroyed death.
Your body will fade, God’s promises will not.
This my friends, is good news.
When we set apart a day to remember that we are dust, we recognize that God specializes in all things dust and dirt. From ashes and dust, God has and still is making beautiful things.
If you are able, I hope you will find a local congregation to celebrate Ash Wednesday with.
To be marked by dust and ash, and to hear the words:
“O mortal, you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Thanks be to the God who meets us in our brokenness and never lets us go.
With you on the journey,
Amy
P.S. As we begin the journey of Lent, here is a helpful resource I’ve found as a sort of alternative “giving something up.” Blogger Sarah Bessey offers 40 ways to connect in daily, diverse ways with the season. I’ll be following her suggestions, and if they appeal to you, I invite you to do the same: https://sarahbessey.substack.com/p/40-simple-practices-for-lent
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