Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, and as someone raised in a free church tradition, who knew nothing more than the existence of the liturgical calendar until a few years ago, I find myself preparing to participate in Lent. I have not decided on the sacrifice I will make, but I have settled on The Cross-Shattered Cross by Stanley Hauerwas as my devotional book.

We will see how this season progresses as I will be the only one in the household actually participating in Lent. I have a book I will go over with the children that will introduce them to the Lenten season, and I hope to involve the whole family on occasion throughout the season. As for the Flickering Light, do not be surprised if there is a darkness about it for the next 40 days. I will be posting my personal reflections periodically, and I will also post quotes that reflect the season to me. Blessings to all

Toby

"Fixed in my memory is the year I was startled almost speechless when suddenly I found myself drawing an ashen cross on the forehead of our daughter, who was then barely three years old. I choked on the words, "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return." Never had my mortality been quite so real to me. Ash Wednesday causes us distress because it rubs our faces in our mortality, or vice versa. Death and sin, sin and death. The real issue is not the death that is part of the biological process, but the death we bring on ourselves because we forget that we were created in God’s image."

by Byron L. Rohrig

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=986