Thursday, March 7, 2019

Dead and Dusty


My fingers are black and oily from preparing the ashes for our Ash Wednesday service. A dark shirt is the attire for that day, with the mood set to match the theme - recognizing our mortality. We are human beings - amazing dreamers, but finite; brilliant thinkers, but selfish; independent, but creatures who exist because we have a maker.

We are dust in our origins, before God breathed into the heap that became Adam. We will be dust again, some time after that breath departs.

Speaking of breath, the outdoor temperature still allows you to exhale and see it. Look again, and you'll see a beginning and an end to it. The cloud goes out only a few feet from your face before disappearing. Remembering your mortality isn't supposed to be morbid...but, it should redirect your thoughts and your ego back to the One who was, who is, and who will be.

We mark ourselves with a cross, but the work of the cross has already been done. Jesus Christ died, that we might live - undoing the natural order of all created things. Those ashes and your breath are only part of the story. By the time this Lenten season is over, we'll be celebrating the resurrection of the body, not the destruction of it...and, we'll be enjoying the Spirit, the breath of God that causes dead and dusty things to come alive!

Today, the air is still chilly, and the snow is still mostly white with a fresh dusting. You will still drive through drifts and skid across patches of ice, but when you look up you'll see the sun...and, you'll remember that this is not all there is. The earthly, mortal season has an end...but, it gives way to one more glorious, and eternal.

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