Disciples, Apostles, and Saints!
On Ash Wednesday, we remind one another of our mortality. As customs go, this is an odd one. And to do so with ashes on our foreheads is more so. Because that oddity is the point.
We don’t like talking about death. So we push ourselves to do it this day. And we like fitting in. So we mark ourselves.
What we’re doing is risking popularity. For the sake of humility.
Christians have wrestled with relevancy for centuries. We want safety and tend to miss our historic power. We long for full churches and outward signs that we are good, successful, and popular.
And then we walk into church and remember that we are dust—and will return to the dust. We aren’t all that. We’re just that.
It is odd then, how we crave this. How much time we spend avoiding our mortality only to need to face it.
We enter Lent compelled by humility in a culture of bravado. And we are insecure in a time of arrogance. Because these reminders actually bring hope. Hope for our moment of need; for our community; for our world. Hope for new beginnings and opportunities. Because we already know that death is not the end. It brings new beginnings.
With love,
Drew