What is Ash Wednesday? Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. As has been my tradition for several years, in today’s post I will explain some of the basics about this holy day. Tomorrow I’ll add some Ash Wednesday reflections. What is Ash Wednesday? For most of my life, I didn’t ask this question, nor did I care about the answer. I, along, with most evangelical Christians in America, didn’t give Ash Wednesday a thought. But then, in 2004, Ash Wednesday loomed large in American Protestant consciousness. Why? Because on that day Mel Gibson released what was to become his epic blockbuster, The Passion of the Christ. For the first time in history, the phrase “Ash Wednesday” was on the lips of millions of evangelical Christians, not just Catholics and other “high church” Protestants, as we anticipated the official release of The Passion. I grew up with only a vague notion of Ash Wednesday. To me, it was some Catholic holy day that I, as an evangelical Protestant, didn’t have to worry about, thanks be to God. In my view, all of “that religious stuff” detracted from what really mattered, which was having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In my early evangelical years it never dawned on me that some of “the religious stuff” might actually enrich my faith in Christ. During the spring of 1976, my first year of college, I was startled to see a woman who worked in my dining hall with a dark cross rubbed on her forehead. At first I wondered if it were a bizarre bruise. Then I noticed other women with similar crosses. It finally dawned on me what I was seeing. Here was my introduction to Ash Wednesday piety. These women, who were are Roman Catholic, had gone to services that morning and had ashes placed on their foreheads. I felt impressed that these women were willing to wear their ashes so publicly, even though it seemed a rather odd thing to do. It never dawned on me that this would be something I might do myself one day. Fast forward sixteen years, to the spring of 1992. During my first year as Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, I learned that this church had a tradition of celebrating Ash Wednesday with a special worship service. It included the “imposition of ashes” on the foreheads of worshippers. I, as the pastor, was expected to be one of the chief imposers! So I decided it was time to learn about the meaning of Ash Wednesday. I wanted to be sure that the theological underpinnings of such a practice were biblically solid, and that it was something in which I could freely participate. Here’s some of what I learned . . . . Ash Wednesday is a Christian holiday (holy day) that is not a biblical requirement (rather like Christmas and Easter). Nevertheless, it has been honored by Christians for well over ten centuries at the beginning of Lent, a six-week season of preparation for Easter. In the earliest centuries, Christians who had fallen into persistent sin had ashes sprinkled on their bodies as a sign of repentance, even as Job repented “in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). Around the tenth century, all believers began to signify their need for repentance by having ashes placed on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. Notice: even this sign of sinfulness hinted at the good news yet to come through its shape. Ash Wednesday is not some dour, depressing holy day because it symbolically anticipates Good Friday and Easter. Today, celebrations of Ash Wednesday vary among churches that recognize this holiday. More and more Protestant and even evangelical churches hold some sort of Ash Wednesday services. At Irvine Presbyterian Church, where I served for sixteen years as pastor, and at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Boerne, Texas, where I now attend, ashes are placed on our foreheads as a reminder of our mortality and sinfulness. The person who imposes the ashes quotes something like what God once said to Adam after he had sinned: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19). This is the bad news of our sinfulness that prepares us to receive the good news of forgiveness in Christ. What I value most about Ash Wednesday worship services is the chance for us all to openly acknowledge our frailty and sinfulness. In a world that often expects us to be perfect, on Ash Wednesday we freely confess our imperfections. We can let down our pretenses and be truly honest with each other about who we are. We all bear the mark of sin, from the youngest babies to the oldest seniors. We all stand guilty before a holy God. We all are mortal and will someday experience bodily death. Thus we all need a Savior. Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of Ash Wednesday is that it begins the season of Lent. This is also a foreign concept for many evangelical Christians. In a couple of days I’ll weigh in on the meaning and benefit of Lent. Tomorrow I’ll stay focused on Ash Wednesday. Staring Death in the Face (2009) Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series The denial of death . . . it’s all around us. When people die, they are often alone, sequestered in hospitals far away from the sad eyes of friends and family. If someone happens to die at home, the corpse is quickly sent away from the grieving relatives. In polite society one doesn’t talk much about death. And when it’s necessary to say something that has to do with dying, nifty euphemisms keep us from confronting the brute facts. When I lived in California, people would say, “Uncle Fred passed away.” In Texas, for some reason, people are more succinct, saying, “Uncle Fred passed.” Of course our own fears concerning our own demise match our cultural squeamishness about death. We don’t want to think about our own mortality, and we do many things to pretend that its not approaching. We dye our graying hair. We cover our age spots with make up. We get cosmetic surgery to preserve the image of youth. Rarely do we seriously think about our own death. As a pastor, I’m amazed at how unusual it is for someone to make plans for his or her own memorial service, or even to leave notes for the family. These are things we’d rather not have to bother with. I’m reminded about a story told by my friend Tim, who was a restaurant manager. Part of his job was to explain the company’s benefit package to his new employees. One time, Tim hired a young man who didn’t speak English very well because he had recently immigrated to the United States. Tim explained the vacation policy, sick leave, and health insurance, all without incident. Then he came to the life insurance. He showed that if the employee died, his family would get $25,000. At this point the employee had a shocked look on his face, and said, “No, no, Tim!” Tim wasn’t sure he had been clear, so he explained, once again, “Look, if you die, your family will get $25,000.” Again, the employee was unhappy. “No, I don’t want it,” he said urgently. “Why not?” Tim asked. “If you die, this will be good for your family.” “But Tim,” the employee cried, “I don’t want to die!” Ash Wednesday is a day when we stare death in the face. Christians who observe this holiday get ashes “imposed” on their foreheads, while a minister or lay church worker says, “You have come from dust, and to dust you will return.” In other words, “You are going to die. And here are some ashes to remind you, just in case you’ve forgotten.” For sixteen years of Ash Wednesday services at Irvine Presyyterian Church, I put ashes on the heads of older adults, some of whom had serious cancer and didn’t live much longer. I also put tiny black crosses made of ash on the foreheads of babies far too young to realize what was happening to them. I imposed ashes on teenagers and senior citizens, on men and women, on boys and girls. All of these I reminded of their mortality, and they freely received the reminder. “You are dust,” I said, implying, “You are going to die.” What gives us such freedom to think about death? Are we Christians morose? Do we have some peculiar fascination with dying? I don’t think so. Rather, what allows us to stare death in the face is the assurance of life, real life, eternal life. When we know our lives are safe in the hands of God, and that this physical life is just the beginning of eternity, then we’re free to be honest about what lies ahead for us. We can face death without fear or pretending, because we know the One who defeated death. I’ll never forget my last visit with a dear member of my congregation named Helen. She was a tiny woman when healthy, but old age and disease had ravaged her body. I wouldn’t be surprised if she weighed 75 pounds on the day of my last visit. There was no question that Helen was soon to die. And there was no point for me to pretend as if that weren’t true. So I asked her straightaway: “Helen, it’s obvious that you don’t have too much time left in this body. How are you feeling about dying?” “Mark,” she said with a weak but confident voice, “I’ve lived a good, long life. I’ve been blessed far beyond what I could have hoped. You’re right, my body is giving out. I don’t have much longer to live. But I want you to know that I am ready. I’m not afraid. I’m eager to see my Lord. I hope I get to soon.” Talk about staring death in the face! What gave Helen such unusual bluntness and boldness when it came to her own imminent death? Her faith in God. Her confidence that her life was really just beginning. Her assurance that her soul was safe in the hands of a gracious, loving God. And so it is for Christians on Ash Wednesday. We can face death. We can admit our own mortality. We can talk openly about the limits of this life. Why? Because we know that through Christ we have entered into life eternal, the fullness of life that will not end when our bodies give out. The emotional result of Ash Wednesday observance isn’t depression or gloom, but gratitude and new energy for living. When we realize how desperately we need God, and how God is faithful far beyond our desperation, we can’t help but offering our lives to him in fresh gratitude. And when we recognize that life doesn’t go on forever, then we find new passion to delight in the gifts of each and every day, and to take none of them for granted. One year, as I returned to my seat after imposing ashes upon dozens of worshipers, I sat next to my 12-year-old son. I couldn’t help but notice the prominent black cross on his forehead, placed there by another leader. All of a sudden it hit me that my dear boy will die someday. Though I knew this in principle, I had never really thought about it before. My boy won’t live forever. His life, like mine and that of every other human being, will come to an end. At that moment I prayed that God would give Nathan a long and blessed life. And then I hugged him for a good minute, treasuring the life we share together. How grateful I am for the grace of God that allows us to stare death in the face so we can live with greater passion and delight! And how thankful I am for a day that allows me to think about death so I can cherish life even more! -Mark Roberts-
Lent for dummies
If you find yourself mystified by Lent but want to participate, need a comprehensive yet easy explanation, click here. There’s still time to learn and commit!
*Note: this website is Roman Catholic in nature but is a great resource for any Christian who wants to observe Lent. If you don’t do the Rosary, no problem. Just tailor it to fit your goals for this season leading up to Easter*
Need an idea for Lent? Try “carbon fasting”
This week at Anglican’s Online, I found this post interesting and worth a shot. Lent begins tomorrow, and I cannot wait!
Talking about fasting is bad for the soul. Like giving away your money, it should be done quietly behind closed doors, certainly not in front of microphones and cameras. There are no rewards in heaven for turning the virtue of fasting into the vice of broadcasting about it. The point of fasting is to lay your life before God secretly and seriously. Fasting isn’t dieting, though both can involve food. Dieting is usually about how you look on the outside. Fasting is about the shape of your soul. It’s a form of praying which, if you were to put it into words, would sound like Psalm 139:
Try me, O God, and seek the ground of my heart.
Prove me and examine my thoughts.
Look well if there be any way of wickedness in me.“The ground of my heart” is exactly what’s up for inspection as we let God scrutinise what we really want out of life. “Look well if there be any way of wickedness in me.” That might sound a little strong in a world where the words “right” and “wrong” have given way to “appropriate and “inappropriate.” But perhaps we can allow ourselves a little wickedness for Lent. Although I fear—and I’ll leave this to your imagination—that the scope of what we consider to be wicked is usually pretty narrow. Try the impact that our living has on other people’s dying. I think that probably counts for wickedness.
If the scientists are right—and only a minority dissent—we’re warming up the planet to a disastrous level. Whatever else is happening in the natural cycle, a larger-than-ever world population is putting into the atmosphere more carbon than there has ever been in the history of the planet. There’s an ever-thickening blanket wrapping itself around the earth.
That doesn’t on the face of it sound very wicked, but it feels it, if you’re one of the millions whose life has already been threatened by the floods and droughts of a changing climate. I’ve sat with village elders in Africa and in India and watched their sorrow-stained faces as they told me stories of their children drowned in the floods.
It could just be that in fasting this Lent a still small voice might call us to think again about how we should now live. Instead of giving up chocolate or alcohol, we could cut out the one thing that is suffocating the planet. A fast of carbon could bless the earth as well as our soul. It could save the poor, as well as God’s world.*
We share a planet and church with some who find the good Bishop of Liverpool’s thoughts only a well-meaning substitution for more ecclesiocentric—perhaps even more excitingly wrathful—kinds of Christian activity. Rather, we find his approach a meet and right churchly response to the pressing needs of God’s own world and people. Give the Carbon Fast a thought and a click.
Vaccinations NOT a cause of Autism
I had a post on here a while back about the debate of vaccinating your child. To recap, I do vaccinate Aubrey because I believe it is better to be safe than sorry. However, I respect a parent’s right to make their own decisions for their own children.
I just thought this story was relevant to that and wanted to share it.
Mommy Guilt
I posted this on The Mommy Chronicles as well, but I wanted to put it here as well.
I am fairly certain that every mom who just read that title said to themselves, “Oh, yeah. I hear ya”. It seems that when our children come into this world, they not only bring joy, challenge and growth, but (for me at least), it was like Aubrey added an entire new dimension to my personality- guilt. Even when I was a stay-at-home-mom, I felt those pangs of guilt almost every day. Looking back on those early days I can see that it was silly to feel selfish for wanting to pee by myself or for longing for 10 minutes so I would have time to wash my hair AND shave my legs instead of having to choose one over the other (Ryan always voted for the leg shaving). It wasn’t that I didn’t have help or capable people around that I could count on, it was just that I felt like she would know if I wasn’t devoting every second to her and somehow that would damage her. The truth is that it damaged me a lot more!
I think that the amount of guilt you feel as a mom also depends on your personality. Since I am such a control freak, I think that magnifies the guilt I feel. I look at my house and feel guilty that it is such a mess. I look at Aubrey and feel guilty that I haven’t started potty training her even though she has been showing signs of readiness for 3 weeks now. I look at my savings account and feel guilty that the number is not bigger. The problem with these pangs of guilt are that I only see what I’m NOT doing, instead of what God has enabled me to accomplish. Instead of seeing a messy house, I need to see that I have a house, and me working is what pays the mortgage. Instead of seeing that I haven’t potty trained my 19 month old yet, I should be grateful that she is wanting to learn so early in her life and the amount of money I will be saving on diapers after I do get it done. And instead of basing my worth and accomplishment on a number, I need to see that I even have money in my savings account, and that the reason it is low is because we had to take money out to pay for car repairs and pay off a credit card instead of adding to that debt by using that credit card to pay for the car repairs!
I can’t control everything. I am learning that. I learned it yesterday here in Oklahoma when, in the course of one afternoon (in FEBRUARY!) the tornado sirens went off 3 times and instead of getting an essential shipment packed and sent, I was in the basement telling God that if I die in the mailroom, I am going to be so ticked off about it. In the end, I need to learn to see and appreciate what has been done, what is being accomplished, and the goals being reached instead of focusing on setbacks or the fact that my life is not fitting into the script I have written for it.
Guilt is a dangerous animal. It holds us back from our potential and is often a blinding agent. We are often so racked with it that we cannot see the bigger picture. For example- I felt so guilty for paying someone else to take care of my little girl when it actually turned out to be a blessing- the extra money lessened the financial burden on my husband, allowed us to pay off debt and taught Aubrey how to socialize with other children as well as reinforce that ‘Mommy may drop you off in the morning, but she will ALWAYS pick up in the evening. Mommy will always come back for you’.
When we feel guilt, no matter what it is for, we need to look it in the eye and say “Shut up! There may be good cause for feeling you, but I will not allow you to debilitate me. I will learn from mistakes and press on. I will define myself by what God says about me, not by how I ‘feel’ or by all the times I have screwed up. I WILL GET UP, I will live the life that God has for me. You, Guilt, do not get to control my life.” Like any mother who saw a dangerous animal about to attack her child, you should kill that guilt on the spot, because whether your child is 6 months old or 6 years old, they are going to feel it and it will affect them.
It seems that Mommy Guilt is a part of the job- but we don’t have to let it write the description. Love your children, do your best, pray for them, and trust that God will guard their hearts, souls and emotions. Take the opportunity to grow from the pain, and embrace the joyful moments as a chance to be thankful.
New year, new projects!
I haven’t posted in awhile, but that is because there has been a ton of stuff going on! I have implemented a new routine with my life and it has had a few blips along the way, but I am starting to see progress. The main part of that is working out and changing the way I eat. I have been going to the gym 5-6 times a week and have lost 8 pounds. I seem to have gotten stuck at 8 pounds! Guess I need to step it up, push harder, because I have about 20 more to go before I can say that the scale reflects an accomplished goal. Although I feel better, sleep deeper and have seen the scale go down, it is still hard to motivate myself to get up at 5:30 am to work out. But that is the only time its going to happen if its going to happen at all, because unfortunately I have to work and then at 5:00 pm my real life begins and I don’t have an extra hour to squeeze into the day. Sleep? What is that, again?
Aubrey is growing, knows about 40 words now and as soon as I get paid and buy her a singing potty, we are going to begin the adventure and fun that is potty training. Yippee. It will be nice to save money on diapers. It will not be nice to spend money on sheets, detergent and stain remover. If anyone has any tips for me, I will say this: HELP ME!!!!
Church is great and we are increasing our role with ministry. Sometimes I have felt so stretched and at one point looked at Ryan and said, I don’t want to give ANY MORE. Then more opportunites and suggestions fell into my lap and instead of my initial reaction being annoyance, surprisingly it has been “YES! LET’S DO IT!” With the help of some singles in church, we are going to re-launch the singles ministry, SOLUS, in March. Tell your friends, its going to be awesome. I have also started something that I see as a ministry for the women, specifically moms in our community and really, any mom out there who knows how to use the internet. Yes, I have started a “mommy blog” and am SO PUMPED about it. I AM USING CAPS A LOT TODAY. CALM DOWN JESSICA. Sorry. This blog is intended to be a resource for moms to not only get information, but to share their trials, experiences and advice. It is still in the newborn phase but I am trying to add something to it every day. I need people to contribute to make it work, but so far from the stats I am seeing on WordPress, its getting a ton of hits and that is encouraging. That being said, please visit and contribute to http://dlcmommychronicles.wordpress.com and TELL YOUR FRIENDS!
Enjoy and have a great week!
