Ash Wednesday 2016
10/02/16 05:18
“Live every day as if it were your last.” It is a bit of common wisdom gleaned from popular culture. It is a bit of advice often heard, and I suppose it isn’t a bad idea, though one seldom truly applied. The closest I can come to an actual source for the quote is one from Mahatma Gandi, who said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow,” and followed up with, “Learn as if you were to live forever.” The entire quote is certainly more complete advice than just the sentiment about being aware of the shortness and preciousness of life. The Roman poet Horace wrote, “Carpe diem,” though the aphorism is likely to have existed long before it showed up in Horace’s work, “Odes” in 23 BC. We usually translate the phrase “seize the day,” but it might also be translated “enjoy, use, or make use of.” The verb carpo means to “pick or pluck,” so it might be more literal to translate it “pluck the day (as it is ripe).” The way it gets used in contemporary society it has little more meaning than the ubiquitous “Have a nice day!”
For us, however, today is a day in which we are asked to contemplate our mortality. It isn’t quite the same thing as an admonition to live every day as if it were the last. It is rather a more simple reminder that we are mortal. We often quote the book of Genesis on Ash Wednesday, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” It is the end of a 6-verse judgement rendered by God against the snake following the discovery that the man and his wife had eaten fruit from the tree that was forbidden.
In many places throughout the Bible ashes were symbols of grief and mourning. In the book of Esther, Mordecai and many of the other Jews put on sackcloth and ashes when Haman was given authority to destroy them. When Jonah declared that God was going to destroy the people of Nineveh, everyone from the king down responded with repentance and fasting, donning sackcloth and ashes. The symbol showed up in Isaiah, 1 and 2 Kings, Lamentations, Daniel and even in the book of Revelation, where two witnesses don the symbolic garb.
It was an outward sign of an inward reality. People were demonstrating their commitment to making changes.
That symbol carries similar meaning for us. Matthew, Mark and Luke all report that Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he was tempted. Lent arose as a period of imitating his spiritual journey, an official time of 40 days of preparation for Easter. It has become the common practice to begin this period on Ash Wednesday, 46 days before Easter, not counting the Sundays as fast days.
The ceremony of Ashes is very simple. People are invited to reflect on their own mortality and to consider what changes they want to make in this life. then an individual blessing is received. The Palm Branches, blessed as a part of the celebration of Palm Sunday the previous year, are burned to ash and a smudge of ashes is placed on the forehead or back of the had of each participant with the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Some congregations use “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” for the blessing.
There are references to blessings with ashes as early as the third century, though it wasn’t an official order of the church until the 10th century when Pope Urban II, as the council of Benevento declared Ash Wednesday as an official day of repentance. There were some divisions over the practice during the Protestant reformation, with some communions refraining from the practice entirely, while other Protestants continued to observe the day. It remains common in many congregations to observe the day without the imposition of ashes, and in most Protestant congregations the ashes are offered as a symbolic gift and not as a requirement of faithful people.
For me, the day is largely symbolic. It is a day to remind myself of something that I already know. Life is precious and it does not go on forever. We are mortal and one day each of us will die from this life. But we are also endowed with great freedom to make choices. Remembering our mortality enables us to choose wisely, knowing that we cannot do everything and that we need to prioritize our actions and make the best choices we are able with the time that is ours.
I am fairly satisfied with my life. I doubt if I would make dramatic changes if I were to receive the diagnosis of a fatal illness and imminent death. But I frequently work with people who have the desire to make big changes. Those suffering from addictions often know in their minds the changes they want, but lack the ability to change their behavior without assistance and support from others. When your behavior is causing pain for others and yourself, it is clear that change is needed, but often people don’t know how to bring about those changes.
For those who want to “turn around” their lives, Ash Wednesday is a good starting point.
I don’t know all of the individual stories of the people who will come to me for blessing today. Because we distribute ashes in a community setting as well as in a service at our church it is likely that I will pray and bless those who are strangers to me. Of course there will be others whose lives I know well and whose struggles and difficulties have been shared with me. Each encounter is precious. The people come to me one at a time. I am granted the opportunity to look each in the eyes and pray individually for each. Most of the time I deal with groups of people. On Ash Wednesday, I am called to make individual connections.
And as I do, I am reminded how precious this day is. I will not always be a pastor in the position to have people come to me for a blessing. It is a privilege I am given for a part of my life. It is one I am determined to honor and not squander.
For us, however, today is a day in which we are asked to contemplate our mortality. It isn’t quite the same thing as an admonition to live every day as if it were the last. It is rather a more simple reminder that we are mortal. We often quote the book of Genesis on Ash Wednesday, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” It is the end of a 6-verse judgement rendered by God against the snake following the discovery that the man and his wife had eaten fruit from the tree that was forbidden.
In many places throughout the Bible ashes were symbols of grief and mourning. In the book of Esther, Mordecai and many of the other Jews put on sackcloth and ashes when Haman was given authority to destroy them. When Jonah declared that God was going to destroy the people of Nineveh, everyone from the king down responded with repentance and fasting, donning sackcloth and ashes. The symbol showed up in Isaiah, 1 and 2 Kings, Lamentations, Daniel and even in the book of Revelation, where two witnesses don the symbolic garb.
It was an outward sign of an inward reality. People were demonstrating their commitment to making changes.
That symbol carries similar meaning for us. Matthew, Mark and Luke all report that Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he was tempted. Lent arose as a period of imitating his spiritual journey, an official time of 40 days of preparation for Easter. It has become the common practice to begin this period on Ash Wednesday, 46 days before Easter, not counting the Sundays as fast days.
The ceremony of Ashes is very simple. People are invited to reflect on their own mortality and to consider what changes they want to make in this life. then an individual blessing is received. The Palm Branches, blessed as a part of the celebration of Palm Sunday the previous year, are burned to ash and a smudge of ashes is placed on the forehead or back of the had of each participant with the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Some congregations use “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” for the blessing.
There are references to blessings with ashes as early as the third century, though it wasn’t an official order of the church until the 10th century when Pope Urban II, as the council of Benevento declared Ash Wednesday as an official day of repentance. There were some divisions over the practice during the Protestant reformation, with some communions refraining from the practice entirely, while other Protestants continued to observe the day. It remains common in many congregations to observe the day without the imposition of ashes, and in most Protestant congregations the ashes are offered as a symbolic gift and not as a requirement of faithful people.
For me, the day is largely symbolic. It is a day to remind myself of something that I already know. Life is precious and it does not go on forever. We are mortal and one day each of us will die from this life. But we are also endowed with great freedom to make choices. Remembering our mortality enables us to choose wisely, knowing that we cannot do everything and that we need to prioritize our actions and make the best choices we are able with the time that is ours.
I am fairly satisfied with my life. I doubt if I would make dramatic changes if I were to receive the diagnosis of a fatal illness and imminent death. But I frequently work with people who have the desire to make big changes. Those suffering from addictions often know in their minds the changes they want, but lack the ability to change their behavior without assistance and support from others. When your behavior is causing pain for others and yourself, it is clear that change is needed, but often people don’t know how to bring about those changes.
For those who want to “turn around” their lives, Ash Wednesday is a good starting point.
I don’t know all of the individual stories of the people who will come to me for blessing today. Because we distribute ashes in a community setting as well as in a service at our church it is likely that I will pray and bless those who are strangers to me. Of course there will be others whose lives I know well and whose struggles and difficulties have been shared with me. Each encounter is precious. The people come to me one at a time. I am granted the opportunity to look each in the eyes and pray individually for each. Most of the time I deal with groups of people. On Ash Wednesday, I am called to make individual connections.
And as I do, I am reminded how precious this day is. I will not always be a pastor in the position to have people come to me for a blessing. It is a privilege I am given for a part of my life. It is one I am determined to honor and not squander.