Is that a thing?
I’ve been wishing people a cheerful “Happy Ash Wednesday!” all day. I mean it, I feel it, and I truly want today to be a happy one, yet at the same time, every time I’ve said it, I’ve wondered if that’s a proper greeting for today. It simply seems out of place, perhaps even off. We’re kicking off the season of Lent, many of us fighting incessant tummy rumblings before it’s even socially acceptable to admit as much; what could possibly be happy about that?
Easter is it’s own (post-Lent) season; the question is, what reason is there to be happy about Lent?
Two words:
(1) Progress
(2) Mine
Progress
The concept is simple, but it requires some reading into the season to understand how it applies. Lent is a season of repentance, of turning away from sin (anything that takes us away from God), so that we may more clearly focus on God. We seek to better seek God in our lives; sometimes we do this by deleting negative attachments and/or adding God-focused habits. The goal of Lent is to choose God over worldly pleasures, comforts, and other temptations.
(That’s not to say that these things are bad; they might be quite good. For example, it is good to have a nice bed to sleep in that supports you so you can sleep well and better serve people come the new day. This bed certainly counts as a worldly comfort, but there’s nothing inherently sinful about it.)
Over the course of Lent, we should find ourselves nearing God. Now, that’s a necessarily relative term because we are all starting from different places, but it is simultaneously objective because we are only measuring against ourselves. Specifically, if I move ten paces, we can measure whether I ended up closer to or, alternatively, farther away from God. There is a key element missing here for us to take that leap.
We need to know where we are.
Lent is a time for self-assessment. We determine who we are and where we are on our journey of faith so we can figure out the next step to take us closer to God. Introspectively assessing ourselves enables us to move forward by allowing us to orient ourselves; in determining our current location, we can see a little more clearly how to get where we’re headed. Being able to see the path strengthens us to take it, even when the road isn’t easy.
Mine
Specific to Ash Wednesday (happy today!) is this particular word: mine. It’s not normally what I think of when I think of Ash Wednesday, and I’ll keep it brief because I recommend watching Father Mike Schmitz’s video for more information on this point.
On Ash Wednesday, we get ashes smeared on our foreheads in a very particular way. The ashes symbolize what we are – ashes and dust, creatures made by God. In the grand scheme of things, if we zoom out on time and assess the value of all of humanity over the course of eternity, that value is, approximately, nil. Nothing. In the grand scheme of things, we don’t really matter. Except: Jesus.
The ashes go on our forehead as a cross. This is Jesus claiming us as his own by marking us with the sign of the war He waged for our hearts on Calvary. That cross of ashes says two things: we are nothing, and yet God wants nothing more than our hearts. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you so much that He lived, died, and rose from the dead to claim you as His own knowing full well that you weren’t going to be perfect and knowing full well that He will love you through your imperfections. That is the message of today, and that is certainly worth celebrating.
Happy Ash Wednesday.
Further Investigation
- Father Mike Schmitz offers a great video called The Significance of Ash Wednesday. In this touching video of less than eight minutes, he discusses the meaning of today’s celebration: we are ashes, yet Jesus loves us precisely as we are.
- Ashes by Tom Conry is a classic Ash Wednesday hymn. I discovered some scathing articles about the song, but I interpret the song quite differently. (One article specifically discusses what a paltry offering the ashes of last year’s palms are, for example, but we’re not offering the palms: the “ashes” we’re offering are ourselves, for we are but ashes and to dust shall we return.) Worth a listen/sing.
- A less controversial song for today is Ashes to Ashes by Dan Schutte which is also worth a listen/sing.
