Today is when I must be faithful to the work God has called me to do. I am so apt to get caught up in the events of every day and the dreams of "some day" that I forget that today is a gift from God. I'm reminded that our time here is fleeting. Last week I heard of a young person who was tragically killed in an accident. Just this week I learned of yet another person who has been diagnosed with cancer at a very young age. I appreciate that reminder-no, I need the reminder. In it I find echoes of Solomon's heartfelt cry, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1), or Paul's earnest plea, "Now is the day of salvation" (II Corinthians 6:2). That admonishment is meant to call us to God by reminding us that our days are numbered. The imposition of ashes upon one's head is symbolic, of course, but what a powerful symbol! With the placing of ashes on one's head comes the entreaty: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return," echoing God's words to Adam in Genesis 3:19. The ashes themselves might even come from burning the palms left from Palm Sunday the year before. Special Ash Wednesday services may include a minister's making the sign of the cross upon the foreheads of congregants. The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday. For hundreds of years now, many Christians have marked the 40 days before Easter as a particular time of reflection and repentance. Later I learned about the season of Lent. There people celebrated throughout Mardi Gras, really whooped it up on Fat Tuesday, then went to church on Ash Wednesday.
I'd never heard of Ash Wednesday until I was a teenager, and lived close to New Orleans. I've been each of the people listed above. Still others will see people with smudges on their foreheads and politely say, "You've got something on your face." Some of us will see folks with crosses on their foreheads and think, "What on earth is that about?"
0 kommentar(er)
