Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.
Exhale.
Remember that you are dust
Deep breath and exhale.
and to dust you shall return.
Truth. Gravity. Promise.
We are but dust and when the time comes we will all return … to dust.
Today I do miss the ritual of Ash Wednesday. The imposition of ashes. The marking of a cross on parishioners foreheads as we speak the words, “remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Marking the same cross that was drawn on them at baptism. The cross of Christ, the seal of Christ, that forever marks you and forever holds you as a child of God.
The emotion that comes with this ritual can be ponderous; for you will be with some of these parishioners when they do return to dust. You also pray its a bit preposterous when marking children so full of life that dust is only something they leave in their wake.
You are marked with the cross of Christ and to dust you shall return … Deep breath and exhale.
Ash Wednesday and the Imposition of Ashes start the communal entry into a time of reflection, a time of dying to our old selves, a time of repentance and cleansing. A time finally where it’s ok to be sad and to recognize and deal with the struggles and issues of life; for great is life but not all of life is great.
I’m missing this and I’m feeling the separation and the distance.
However Church traditions and communities vary, and though the altar and stoles will be purple on Sunday, no ashes today.
Still today the ashes feel real, as the dust came upon a family member early this morning. My Mother’s cousin. I knew she’d been quite ill and suffering the past couple months but to me she was too young, and seeing her last August when I was home didn’t leave any imagination that this would be the news of today or really any day soon.
But Andrea you have returned to dust. This is true, we are all dust and when the time is such we will all return to dust. We know this with heavy hearts and with profound sorrow and we sit in darkness for a time as we wrestle with our loss.
And when we are ready to hear it and to understand it, our Lent will pass and Easter will come upon us and we will be able to believe in and claim the promise that was made to us in those ashes and at your baptism when across your forehead the cross of Christ was made and the words spoken were something like, “Andrea, Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”
And with that promise may we find peace.
Madagascar Vaovao 