Ash Wednesday
Christians all over the world have the sign of the cross on their foreheads. This is one day of the Christian year that the visibility of the cross is worn prominently. Although the symbology of the cross made with ashes reminds the proselyte of their own temporality, their sorrow and their death. Taken an additional step forward, the ashes are what remain from Christ’s entry into the world. God’s Love embodied, personified, brought such a fire, an incinerating burn, onto all of creation that the remainder was ash. The simple carbon matter reminds us of the powerful presence of a lasting singe on the world. Maybe these signs of crosses would remain throughout my days to remind me that the fire still burns, within me and the world. T.S. Eliot wrote a beautiful poem called Ash Wednesday (part of the end of the poem is below) that speaks to the powerful presence in the world even today. As Christians, it is time to where our crosses each day, to unbreak our wings, and re-introduce the world to an incredible experience of a God who defies death and reminds us of life.
TS Eliot, “Ash Wednesday”, from part VI
“Although I do not hope to turn again
Although I do not hope
Although I do not hope to turn
“Wavering between the profit and the loss
In this brief transit where the dreams cross
The dreamcrossed twilight between birth and dying
(Bless me father) though I do not wish to wish these things
From the wide window towards the granite shore
The white sails still fly seaward, seaward flying
Unbroken wings”