Ash Wednesday 2020

 A Time to Reawaken!

“Return to the Lord, your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,“

Joel 2:13

The season of Lent is a time of awakening. Or, as Pope Francis says, “Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy”.

Ash Wednesday falls during late winter into early spring. Usually by this time, in the church year, our energies and euphoria from last year’s Palm Sunday, Easter Day, and the Day of Pentecost have dissipated into winter’s slumber; very similar to what many plants and animals do during the winter. Even the palm fronds of last Palm Sunday have turned into ashes; it is as if the earth and all God’s creatures seek to be awakened and to be readied for re-seeding.

In partaking in the Imposition of Ashes listen to the words, breathe in the dust, “a cloud of finely powdered earth . . .” [from dictionary.com], and imagine the thumb touch pushing a seed into your being. It is like pressing the ashes into the ground for new growth with seeds for the soul. What comes from these soulful seedlings is that awareness to LIVE the Baptismal Covenant; the covenant within us, nurtured by God’s steadfast love.  For the covenant says: to seek and serve Christ in ALL persons, and to strive for justice and peace among ALL people, and respect the dignity of every human being [and earthly creation].

So now, the word “dust” becomes our prayer word, and our meditating mantra, and the reminder that we are part of the earth. We are part of the ongoing re-creation of the earth. It is the earth, as dirt, as human form, as animal form, as plant form, or within the waters. We are co-creators with God, and the season of Lent offers us a time to be reflective upon our actions as stewards of the earth. It is the disciplines of Lent such as, fasting, more praying, more “serving”, etc. that returns us to the Lord with new seedlings of growth.

  

Remember that you are Dust . . . .  Be a Seed in Creation!