As we mark ourselves with these ashes, we remind ourselves that no grief is solitary; that what has stricken you is also carried by me. We begin our Lenten journey together, reminding one another that we are those whose flesh grows back. We are those who remain. It is...
All that is gold does not glitter,Not all those who wander are lost;The old that is strong does not wither,Deep roots are not reached by the frost.From the ashes a fire shall be woken,A light from the shadows shall spring… from The Fellowship of the Ring
It strikes me today that the liturgy of Ash Wednesday teaches something that nearly everyone can agree on. Whether you are part of a church or not, whether you believe today or your doubt, whether you are a Christian or an atheist or an agnostic or a so-called “none”...
Tradition is not to preserve the ashes, but to pass on the fire.
Lent has begun, and we need to live in this dark place between the ashes and the bread and wine, between the declaration of our mortality and the declaration of Christ’s redeeming work. Lent is a time to reckon with the reality of the darkness. We do so with hope,...