Today is Ash Wednesday. And so the season of Lent begins with a reminder that we are people of the Earth. We are born of the stardust that existed thousands of years before we took our first steps. We breathe in harmony with the oxygen created by the trees that clothe the ground on which we move and create our lives. We have our moods affected by the Sun that either shines upon us or hides behind days of clouds. We Survive on the water that falls from the sky and fills our rivers, oceans and lakes. Everything we eat that nourishes our bodies has been grown and fed from the gifts of Earth…the plants, the legumes, the animals, the fruit. It is all good, very good.
Today those who count themselves among the Christian household will make a pilgrimage to their places of worship and will be marked with a sign of ashes on their foreheads. This will be a reminder. We are of the Earth. We travel on the Earth. We are fed by the Earth. And we will someday return to the soil of this same Earth that has been our home. The ritual act begins a 40 day reminder that we share this walk with Jesus of Nazareth who was born, fed and traveled this path before us and while he traveled his journey he gave his life making known the movement of the Holy in all he did. We are asked to reflect upon what it means, perhaps even what it requires, to follow his example.
Over the weekend I was in the presence of Dara Molloy, a Celtic priest and writer, who spoke about Celtic Christianity’s characteristics. He spoke of the concept of being ‘guests of the world’ and how we all are on a pilgrimage here. Sometimes this is a literal traveling as we search for places that awaken us to the presence of the sacred. Most days, however, we are wandering around inside ourselves trying to find that touchstone of who we really are that often gets hidden, those God-created unique selves we catch glimpses of every now and then.
He also spoke of another characteristic as knowing ‘places of resurrection.’ These are the places we feel a sense of aliveness, a home that goes beyond a physical structure, a hometown. They are also the places where we are awakened to our true work. I believe we are often in the presence of these resurrection places. But most often I find I am moving too quickly or I am not present to the moment and those flickers of rebirth fly by unnoticed, unrealized and the beauty of my true work goes unlived. In this your experience?
Lent offers an opportunity to live with intention. Some people choose to give up certain things that distract them from being present to God’s movement. Others begin a practice that will help them align their steps with those of the Holy. Whether giving up or taking on, Lent invites us to reflect upon what it means to be a guest of this world and where we find places of resurrection. It is a gift that will bring us through the winter of our days into a spring that will promise new life.
As we wear the birthmark of ashes, may our walk this day and all the following be filled with a deep knowing that we do not travel this path alone. We are woven together with all those who walk with intention and are held by the the One who has loved us from the beginning.