Ash Wednesday is the start to Lent, and it points to Easter. This is a penitential season – a time to pare down and strip bare. By giving up something we want, we get to take on something we need. The beginning is in darkness and mourning, and the end is in light and rejoicing. It is a time of dying to ourselves and being reborn with Christ.
But how do you observe Ash Wednesday and Lent? How can you participate in a meaningful way that makes it real to you, other than going to a service and getting a cross smudged on your head? One way is to wear black or other dark colors on Ash Wednesday, and to not wear any jewelry. Fast, or eat very sparingly – eat small meals that are simple. It is a day of mourning, so going through the rituals of mourning are appropriate.
Many people give up something in Lent. Chocolate, alcohol, and eating out are all common things that people will sacrifice during this time. It is a reminder of the time when Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by the Devil, and he was without food or shelter. Some people take something on during Lent. They will volunteer for some non-profit agency. They will commit to reading the Bible every day. They will raise money to help people in need. Either way, it is a change and a reminder that this is a different time and a chance to refocus your priorities.
Sometimes you have too many things in your life. Sometimes your hands are full, and you aren’t able to hold on to anything new. Sometimes what our hands and lives are full of is just stuff. We carry around the idea that if we only had this new Thing, we’d be happy. How many times have we said that we are looking forward to something, only to forget that we need to be grateful for what we have right now? Who is to say that we aren’t stuck in our own wilderness now, being tempted by the world’s enticements? We are called to be in the world, but not part of the world. Lent is a great time to see where your focus is – is it on the world and all its things, or is it on serving God?
Ash Wednesday is a chance to reset. I’ve heard that sometimes a house fire is a blessing in disguise. Everything is stripped away and reduced to rubble. All our trinkets and talismans. All our decorations and dustcatchers. All of the Stuff that clutters our houses that we keep around us to remind us who we are and where we came from are all reduced to ash. When the house burns down, everything is gone. There is just enough time to escape with your life. When you return to the house you realize that there is nothing there and you have to start again from the beginning. This is Ash Wednesday. Those ashes on your forehead are a reminder to you that all you have right now is your life. The stuff is meaningless. You’ve just escaped with your life. What are you going to do with it now? Are you going to rebuild it exactly the way it is, or are you going to use this as a chance to start again?
Ash Wednesday is a wake-up call. It is a time to resolve to live differently. It is the trip to the emergency room at 3 am thinking you are having a heart attack – only to be told it is anxiety. But what about next time when it is serious? What can you do to make changes in your life so that you can prevent that trip to the doctor? It is a chance to stop and think about what really matters. What is really important? What do you actually need, versus what do you just think you need? When we have that wake-up call at 3 a.m. we often promise everything. “ If you will save me God, I promise to do better. I promise to exercise and eat better. I promise to be a nicer person.” Then when the next day or the next week arrives, we are often back to our old ways because they are easy and familiar. This Lent I invite you to take the step of real change. I invite you to use this time as a way to change everything. You won’t be walking alone. Jesus will be with you every step of the way. He has walked this path before and is cheering you on.
I’d been through several Ash Wednesdays over the years. Something different happened a few years ago. Perhaps it was because I was serving as a lector and had gotten vested in a cassock and a surplice. Perhaps it was because I went up in the first group to get smudged. Perhaps it was because the priest used my name when she smudged me – “Betsy, you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” I don’t know what it was that did it but something cracked open inside me. Something changed. I’d heard those words time and time again, but this time they struck home. This time they were real. I cried a little kneeling there at the altar rail, partly mourning my own mortality, but partly because of the freedom that these words created.
I find it very freeing to be reminded of your mortality. If you know you are going to die, then you know you have to be more intentional about your life. Say you are going to go on a vacation for a week. You have 20 things that you would like to do, but only time for 10. You have to pick those 10 things carefully. What is really important to you? What do you want to do that will really resonate with you? Do you go to the art museum, or spend the day fishing? Do you eat at the fancy restaurant, or do you cook up a simple meal with food you bought at the local farmer’s market? Whatever you choose, do it because it is what is the most meaningful to you at that time. Life is like that – you only have so much time. What is your focus? What must be done?
Part of the meaning of Ash Wednesday is echoed in a quote by Carl Sagan. Sagan told us in his groundbreaking series Cosmos that “Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can. Because the cosmos is also within us. We’re made of star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” Also, C.S. Lewis tells us that “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body. “ This body, full of aches and pains, isn’t the focus.
I find it interesting to note that Sagan was a confirmed atheist, yet his words help me in my Christianity. In a Parade magazine interview he said that he found no evidence that there was life after death and that he felt his mortality to be a impetus to live life more fully. “Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.” His point is that if there is no promise of an afterlife, then you need to appreciate every day you are given. But here’s an interesting part. As a Christian, you get to have your cake and eat it too. You are promised that you will live on through Jesus. You are promised a resurrection and eternal life if you are part of the Body of Christ. But – because of our mindfulness and our intentionality, we can also use this time right now to live more meaningfully.
Live now. Be awake now. Be fully in the moment, whatever it is. I wish you a blessed Lent, where you are prepared to greet the newly-risen Christ on Easter Day.