It is a strange anointing, this cross that comes to mark us as Lent begins.
This marking is made of ash, dust, dirt: the stuff we walk upon, sweep away,
that we work to get rid of. Today it comes to us, to our face, to remind us
of some things both sobering and wondrous.
The imposition of ashes … that’s what we call this ritual. It’s the perfect word for what happens … because these ashes come with an imposition … they interrupt us, bother us in a way; they ask something of us.
They come to us with these bold blunt words:
Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
The ashes remind us that one day, sooner or later-- who knows-- but it will happen … we will die. It’s not about being morbid. It’s about being real.
And so the ashes come to remind us of this gift that is our life … that we might feel some sense of urgency to taste and see while we may, all that we are given to receive.
And to do with what we are given whatever by God’s grace we are able to do, to bring blessing.
Ash is also sign of our failure, our frailty.
However well intended our promises to ourselves, to each other;
however diligently we may strive to do or say the right thing;
however mindful we seek to be of the needs of others, and our own;
however, however, however … there are things we have done and left undone that have been hurtful … that have caused grief.
Remember you are dust … is not intended as a slap in the face, but rather, as another note of reality. It’s not about setting the bar low … it’s about getting real about our limitations, own and each other’s. It’s about reminding us that we are not God.
Along with ash there is OIL … oil of blessing, oil of healing, oil of gladness …
for today we also affirm that we belong to God who knows well what to do with dust … who sees immense possibility in dust … who creates from it again and again --somehow out of total loss ~ a new beginning
somehow out of sorrowful regret ~new found freedom and joy
somehow out of failure ~redemption.
As you prepare to receive this marking of ash with oil today, listen to this:
“Did you not know
what the Holy One
can do with dust --
All those days
you felt like dust, like dirt,
worthy only to be swept away.
This is the day, this is the hour
this is the moment
we ask for the blessing
that lives within
this sacred mix of ash and oil
So let us be marked
not for sorrow.
And let us be marked
not for shame.
Let us be marked
not for false humility
or for thinking
we are less
than we are
but for claiming
what God can do
within the dust,
within the dirt,
within the stuff
of which we
and the world
are made.”
- words by Jan Richardson, with slight adaptation
janrichardson.com
