Let’s see…
How long’s it been since I last went to church
– to get ashes on Ash Wednesday?
Maybe, for one reason or another,
it’s been a year, or two or 10 – or more!
Maybe I’ve never gone.
Maybe I’ve never had the opportunity
to have my forehead smudged with ashes…
Well, two things for sure:
getting ashes doesn’t mean I’m holy
and
getting ashes doesn’t make me holy!
As a matter of fact,
getting ashes means: I’m not holy!
Ashes are for sinners…
Ashes are for people like me,
people who sometimes – even often –
act without thinking,
make poor choices,
tell lies,
cheat and steal,
take advantage of others,
break promises,
go down the wrong path,
hurt other people
(even folks I love),
forget to pray,
make selfish decisions
and do the wrong thing:
sometimes little wrong things
and sometimes big wrong things…
Ashes are for people like me:
people who screw up,
who forget what’s really important,
who let things slide,
– even a lot…
Ashes are for imperfect, broken people,
for people like me
who let things get out of control
and who sometimes do the wrong thing
even when they know exactly
what the right thing is…
Ashes are for people like me, people
who
take too many short cuts,
lay down on the job,
check out when they need to show up,
let other people down – big time –
and disappoint themselves
more often than they can count
and more than they want to admit…
Ashes are for people just like me:
people who gossip about others
who fail to defend the underdog,
who keep silent when they ought to speak up…
Ashes are for sinners
– for people just like me…
Oh, I know getting ashes won’t turn my life around
but it could be a step,
even just one step
in a new direction
on the path I want to follow
but too often miss or stray from…
Getting ashes tomorrow
just might be the beginning of mending:
my relationship with God,
my relationships with others,
and even my relationship with myself…
Getting ashes tomorrow might help me
take an honest look at some things in my life:
things I really need to think about,
things I need to pay attention to,
things I need to let go of,
things I need to embrace,
things I need to pray for,
things I need to change,
things and relationships I need to
reconcile, mend and heal…
Getting ashes tomorrow
might feel kinda strange,
and I might be a little embarrassed
when others see my smudged forehead:
what if they make fun of me?
or ask me what it means?
or why I did it?
Well, I could just be honest.
I could say I did it because:
I’ve been thinking about my life,
taking a little personal inventory,
trying to make some changes,
and I thought this might be a time,
that this might be a way,
that this might be a place to start…
Me going to church to pray?
Me getting ashes?
Hey! It could happen!
I know it won’t hurt
and it just might be good to give it a try,
to give it a chance:
to give God (and me) a chance,
a chance for a new beginning…
So, Lord, even if it’s been a long time
since the last time I got ashes,
even if I’ve never received ashes,
I’ll be in church tomorrow
to get my forehead smudged,
to reconnect with you and take a first step
on a path I’ve been wanting and needing, to walk…
(And since I know I can come up with a dozen reasons
not to get ashes tomorrow
give me a nudge, Lord, a shove,
a kick in the butt or whatever it takes
for me to take this first step,
on the first day of Lent…)
Amen.
@font-face {font-family: »Cambria Math »; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}@font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent: » »; margin:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family: »Calibri »,sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: »Times New Roman »; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-ligatures:standardcontextual;}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: »Times New Roman »; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}
