Distributing ashes to seniors with severe dementia has given me a whole new perspective on Ash Wednesday. When I asked if they'd like ashes for Ash Wednesday, several of the elders looked at me like I was asking them to eat cardboard.
From the woman and her daughter patiently waiting with grateful hearts for me to come to her room and read Psalm 51 and do the imposition of ashes to another woman who very nearly lashed out at me in confused anger when I offered to put ashes on her forehead...
It begs the question, why in the world would any of us want ash on our bodies? Beyond the fact that it is unusual to play in the mud and dirt and earth past the age of, oh, seven or eight, is the fact that for those of us who are quite aware of the meaning of Ash Wednesday, we are reminding ourselves of our mortality.
And that's something we NEVER do in our world today. It is impolite to ask someone's age. The shelves are stocked with ways to look younger, feel younger, and stay younger. Our society doesn't seem very comfortable with aging and dying. And yet...
We are dust. And that's where we shall return.
So why on earth would we want to remember that?! Why on earth would we put oily ash on our foreheads that looks like mud? Why begin 40 days of repentance and fasting and prayer?
I don't have the answer but it is worth reflecting on - the power of humility. The recognition of our mortality. A time to truly reflect on our heart and soul's life of faith. In these few short years that we have on earth, what's the point?
God bless you all this Ash Wednesday.
1 comment:
Were you in the good class or the bad class for 101? The reason I ask is Stuart said something one day about his atheist geologist brother and how his brother could be ok with the idea of returning to dust and that was somehow connected to geology (but the connection is not the point). Stuart says that's great for his brother, but he's too egotistical to think that in the end you just turn to dust, and that's it, so he believes in God and Heaven because he needs to believe that death isn't really the end. Maybe we're too caught up with where our soul goes to worry about our bodies, but the idea of coming from and returning to dust is very humbling (and sort of explains where some religions get the idea of reincarnation, but that's a whole other discussion).
I ramble... sorry.
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