Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
I’ll be honest: the Ash Wednesday service—specifically the imposition of ashes—makes me a little queasy. Every year, I seem to find a convenient excuse to miss the service and start Lent in some other, less “dusty” way. Sorry about that, God.
I do believe in life after death in some form, but do we really have to be reminded that part of us returns to the soil? It feels like planting a seed of doubt just when I’m about to muster the willpower to give up my favorite dessert for forty days. It’s a lot to process while you’ve still got last night’s pancake lingering in your belly.
Actually, I truly admire those who attend this service and start the Lenten season by boldly confronting their mortality. It takes a certain kind of grit to wear your ending on your forehead.
I hope each of you will consider traveling this Lenten journey with us for the next forty days. And please, don’t worry about perfection. If you miss a day of reflection or find yourself “accidentally” sneaking a bite of your forbidden fruit (whatever your sacrifice may be), just keep going.
I’ve found that traveling this road with a friend or two makes the whole discipline far more worthwhile. In fact, one of my best Lents involved traveling with two men affectionately known as “Razor” and “Breeze.” Good company makes even the wilderness feel a bit more like home.
Today is just the beginning. And beginnings mean that we don’t have to be finished products to be worthy of the path. A beginning is a brave admission that we are still growing, still learning, and still capable of change. It is the moment where we stop worrying about the “dust” of where we came from and start looking toward the light of where we are going.
Will you join us?
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