02262020a – Ash Wednesday
A lot of people do not like “Ash
Wednesday.” I get that.
For them, Lent begins on Sunday with
the First Sunday IN Lent.
Call me a “Traditionalist” – but LENT
begins TONIGHT, the DAY AFTER
SHROVE TUESDAY. It always begins
MIDWEEK. ASH WEDNESDAY is for
‘traditionalists…I guess, like ME.’
A little RESEARCH will tell you – “The
practice of Ash Wednesday GOES
BACK to the 11th Century.”
In the book of DANIEL in the NINTH
chapter – there’s A LINE there…about
associating “FASTING with ASHES” so
“ashes are associated with PENANCE,”
which is the “DOMINANT THEME” of
LENT.”
Ash Wednesday IS and always HAS
BEEN a STARK in-your-face-reminder. It
is MESSY. It is UNCOMFORTABLE.
SILLY ashes…CASCADING down across
the BRIDGE of your nose…and
sometimes falling ONTO your CLOTHES.
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LIKE US, they do their OWN THING.
Ashes are a messy- SLOPPY business, I
tell you. Burned palm branches mixed
with OLIVE OIL, sloppy, messy, DIRTY
and GREASY.
And as for the VERBIAGE, we ALREADY
KNOW that “we are DUST” and we know
that one day “WE WILL return to dust.”
We do NOT need ANYONE to tell us.
And SOME OF US, know IT better than
others…
A whole lot of people will tell you they
DO NOT NEED ANY REMINDERS.
Reminders are totally UNNECESSARY
for them.
Remember ALL OF OUR JOURNEY’S are
NOT the SAME.
BUT STILL the reminders of Ash
Wednesday are EVERYWHERE for
THOSE that want to SEE THEM. We are
surrounded by CONSTANT and
CONTINUAL reminders.
6 people OVERDOSED in 24 hours, carjackings
are OLD news, ROAD RAGE is
RELEGATED to page 11…
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and…SHOOTINGS continue almost daily
in the INNER CITY.
DRIVE BYS are in SOME PLACES a daily
occurrence. Bullets riddle homes,
fences, businesses, cars and people and
it is JUST another day IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD.. American soldiers
CONTINUE to die on FOREIGN soils, and
NO ONE is the wiser, except for their
IMMEDIATE families who receive the
11th hour KNOCK AT THE DOOR.
The COVID19 VIRUS continues to take
its deadly toll. And cancers MOCK US
ALL.
NO, we NEED no REMINDERS…
We ALREADY know something about the
FRAGILITY of life.
Ash Wednesday DECLARES LOUDLY
AND BOLDLY…LIFE is UNCERTAIN, life
is FRAGILE, and WE ARE MORTAL.
And NO ONE needs to REMIND US of
these TRUTHS.
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DAILY we live in the TENSION between
the “UNCERTAINTY of LIFE” and the
“CERTAINTY of DEATH” that is…
…if WE CHOOSE to acknowledge THEM.
FOR THE RECORD: We work pretty darn
hard at DENYING the INEVITABLE. OUR
DESIRE is to POSTPONE indefinitely, if
we can…
We try to IGNORE it. We work on
FORGETTING/ SHELVING/
SUPPRESSING what we ALREADY
KNOW. Some of us think we can
OUTRUN it or OUTSMART IT. Denial,
denial, denial. There are folks out there –
that think they can OVERCOME these
grim TWIN realities.
Guess what THEY CANNOT.
No one CAN.
The reminders of MORTALITY and the
FRAGILITY of life are ALL AROUND US.
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They come to us – every time a friend,
neighbor, relative or loved one dies…or
with EVERY LOCK DOWN of a SCHOOL.
And it is even MORE incredible when the
one who dies is OUR AGE or
YOUNGER…especially A LOT younger.
The reminder of OUR fragility comes
with the AGING of our bodies. Bodies
that no longer APPEAR or LOOK like
they ONCE DID.
Bodies that can no longer DO what they
once did…METABOLISM SLOWS…
ACHES and PAINS, MORE FLAB, less
AGILE, SLOWER STEPS are all
reminders that we would rather IGNORE.
ILLNESSES and simple ACCIDENTS
remind US constantly HOW QUICKLY life
can change.
SHOOTINGS and TERRORIST PLOTS
leave us wondering WHERE, WHEN and
just WHO will be next.
CEMETERIES now seem like ANCIENT
forgotten monuments to yesterday’s
mortality.
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“Like SANDS through an hour-glass,
THESE are the DAYS of our lives”
…where did the SAND go? Where did
the TIME go? What in the heck
HAPPENED? What CHANGED? When
did this ALL OCCUR and where in the
heck WAS I?
Nope there is A REASON for this day.
There is a reason for it being in YOUR
FACE.
It is to remind us ONE MORE TIME of
WHOM we BELONG to and that we are
NEVER alone even in the WORST of
times or in the BEST of times…GOD is
always PRESENT with us.
THE GOD OF GRACE and
ENCOURAGEMENT accompanies US
every step of the way through this
CRAZY WORLD of ours.
And TRUST ME there is no other place I
would rather BE – than in the hands of
MY Almighty and LOVING heavenly
father.
Ashes are simply for remembering.
Amen!