Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. It is meant to be a solemn time, a time of confession, penitence, introspection as we journey toward the rebirth of Easter, taking stock of our lives and how we have or have not been faithful to God’s call. As we go to services today, we will be marked by the grit and grime of ashes placed on our foreheads: "Remember, from dust you were born and to dust you will return." These are the words someone will say as skin meets skin in this marking. An ominous message, in some ways, reminding us of our mortality.
The season of Lent is also, and originally, a celebration of Spring, that time when we see the return of life, color and promise to the earth. As people who live in the northern hemisphere, experiencing the long winters, lack of light, severe cold, Spring is the most hopeful of seasons. It is not a coincidence that Lent, Spring and Easter merge together. It is also in the rhythm of the turning of the earth that we come to know what birth, life, death and rebirth really mean.
Ashes, this symbol of earth, placed on our foreheads, can be a proverb for us…a "wise saying" that reminds us of the Wisdom of God that exists in all Creation, including humanity. As the ashes make their mark on our skin we can be reminded that we were drawn from,live on and co-exist with all creatures of earth. We hold within us the miracle of birth and life, the mystery of death and rebirth. During this season we walk the paths of Jesus’ life, seeing miracles and mysteries played out. As we look out our windows and walk in our yards, we see these miracles and mysteries mirrored in the greening of the world.
The ashes with which we will be marked today come from last year’s palm branches, something once green and vibrant, very much alive. As we begin Lent, may we be held in the eternal promise of this season…..birth,life,death and rebirth…on and on …and on. As we hear once again the stories of the life of Jesus, may we be held in their power to transform….for the Hope of the World, in the Hope of Spring.