Don't Avoid Ashes
Friend,
If you are like me, you are an active avoider of negativity.
Facing my faults, failures, or negative feelings is like nails on a chalkboard (is that still a thing people understand?) to my soul.
But actively avoiding them does not make them disappear.
Grief remains whether you cry or not.
Those I’ve let down are still let down whether I acknowledge it or not.
My weight is what it is whether I step on the scale or not.
I heard Craig Groeschel on a podcast the other day say, “You can’t defeat what you don’t define. You can’t change what you don’t confront.”
And that is why Ash Wednesday matters. And that is why Lent matters.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of a journey that forces us to face our own feelings, failures, faults, and ultimately our fate: death.
And that is strangely and terribly a wonderful thing.
Because when I stare death in the face, then I can see Jesus’ resurrection.
When I stare my faults in the face, then I can see Jesus’ redemption.
When I stare my failures in the face, then I can see Jesus’ reconciliation.
When I stare my feelings in the face, then I can feel Jesus’ grace and truth.
So today instead of actively avoiding those things, face them with Jesus, and that makes all the difference.
Love,
Aaron