Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I didn't start practicing Lent until college when Ty Saltsgiver introduced it to me at a Young Life leadership meeting. Each year, this season grows more significant to me. Most people "give something up" for Lent, but back in 1997, Ty encouraged us to switch it around and "take something on." If you haven't thought about "practicing Lent" this season, I'd encourage you to think about it. For me, its a sweet daily reminder of the cross and the resurrection. Below is an excerpt from Ben Witherington's (http://benwitherington.blogspot.com) blog today:

"The term Lent comes from the English word Lenten which in turn comes from the English word lengthen, referring to the season of the lengthening of the days. Ash Wednesday is the first day in the Lenten season, and has traditionally been a day of repentance, of remorse for sin symbolized by the imposition of ashes, but in that imposition is the sign of hope, for the ashes are imposed in the sign of the cross—the means by which our sins were atoned for. Ash Wednesday falls exactly 46 days before Easter and of course it moves around in the calendar because it is linked to Easter which moves around in the calendar. Why? Because Easter is in turn linked to Jewish festival of Passover, when Jesus was crucified, in all likelihood on April 7 A.D. 30. The Jews followed a lunar calendar which of course made the months shorter, and so Lent and Easter are moveable feasts. They are linked as beginning and end of a process of repentance and forgiveness. What precedes Ash Wednesday is Shrove Tuesday, the day one seeks to be shriven of one's sins, which of course has been turned into Fat Tuesday by our culture, the binge before the supposed purge.
Today, above all days, is the time to talk about repentance, which means ever so much more than just saying one is sorry, or even having regrets. The Greek word we translate repentance 'metanoia' refers to an about face, a complete change in direction or behavioral pattern, and from the very first Jesus associated this concept with the Good News of the Kingdom—“repent and hear the Good News, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk. 1.15) seems to have been a summary of his early message, and as such it was much like John the Baptizer’s message as well.

During a normal Ash Wednesday service you will hear the words—‘dust you are, and to dust you shall return’ or even ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’. These words are also part of the funeral ritual. Why this somber reminder about our mortality? Well for the very good reason that we will one day go to meet our Maker, ready or not, and it would be better to be ready, than not! The reminder of our mortality is meant to help us renounce our immorality, to repent of our sins."

One of my friends, Jeremy Casella (www.jeremycasella.com), wrote a song called "Dust To Glory." The lyrics seem quite pertinent today:

Carry me, O breath of God
From these shores of sin and shame
Come restore me, dust to glory
All I have is you

Walk with me lest I should fall
Hold me to that narrow road
Come restore me, dust to glory
All I need is you
All I need is you

Here among the sons of men whose words
Like spears and arrows fly
You are my shield of faith
I will not be afraid

Shepherd me O Lamb of God
Through these valleys lead me home
Come restore me, dust to glory
All I have is you
All I have is you