The Sacred over the Transactional: An Ash Wednesday Meditation
#194
Friend,
Why would people interrupt their busy day and come to an Ash Wednesday service?
I happened to be interviewed by the news during our Come and Go Ash Wednesday Service over the lunch break, and I’ve been thinking about that question ever since.
Why would people stop, get ashes on their foreheads, when their schedule is full? What is Ash Wednesday all about?
Here is the answer I wish I had given:
Ash Wednesday is about the transcendent (sacred) over the transactional. In a world that says what can you do for me. On Ash Wednesday, you show up not to give anything, but to be with God who offers something to you.
Ash Wednesday is about being still over go, go, go. What a gift it is to pause, to be still, to cease in a world that hardly lets you breathe. But our sanctuary was still, was holy, and invited you to just be still.
Ash Wednesday is about reality over fantasy. Our world tries to deny death by hiding aging, hiding weakness, and hiding blemishes. But Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are dust and to dust we shall return. We have sinned, and we need a savior.
Ash Wednesday is about resilient hope over futile despair. You don’t have Ash Wednesday without Easter Sunday. We face fears, failures, faults, and failings with courage and trust that God “makes beautiful things out of dust, and God makes beautiful things out of us.”
Love,
Aaron