So…I know tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, but I really can’t help the timing, it wasn’t up to me. Ten years ago we did an Ash Wednesday service at Eastgate, and I found it to be a very moving and spiritually nourishing experience. I said back then: “We need to do this more often”….but time gets away from us. So, this Wednesday we are re-visiting that ritual from long ago. Ten years ago I also wrote an explanation of the service, which I’m going to repost here, to help explain the purpose of this service.

I grew up in a decidedly non-liturgical home.  We were evangelicals, but my father was ordained in the Methodist church, so I’m a bit confused as to why we were so far removed from liturgies…but, such is the case for me.

[Tomorrow] is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for most Western Christian churches who observe liturgical calendars.

I have never observed Lent in my whole life.  I honestly didn’t even know for sure what it was until a few years ago.  Lent, in case YOU don’t know either, is a period of forty days prior to Easter, where the Christian, in imitation of Christ’s forty day wilderness temptation, observes a time of penitence, fasting, charity and prayer.

People practice the denial of self in a great variety of ways during lent.  Some abstain from certain types of food…I have one friend who gave up deserts for forty days (and consequently lost a lot of weight).  It was very meaningful for him.  I had another friend who quit watching TV for forty days.

Having grown up completely outside the reaches of liturgical observances, recently I’ve become quite fascinated with them.  Several years ago, I began the practice of praying the “daily office”, from the Celtic Daily Prayers book.  It has had a profound effect on me.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and for the first time ever (second time) we will have a small Ash Wednesday service..

What is this about, you ask? Ash Wednesday is a practice that began in the middle ages – intended as a time for followers of Christ to prepare their hearts for Easter. The main thrust behind the imposing of ashes on a forehead is summed up in REMEMBER, REPENT, and RETURN.

REMEMBER – that we are mortal – from dust we were created and to the dust we return. Material wealth, plastic surgery, advances in science…none of these things can prevent our inevitable death. The ashes connect us with the reality of our finite, human condition.

REPENT – acknowledge that we don’t do this Christian thing very well, and commit our hearts to change. It does the heart a world of good to come clean with God and admit our struggles to him, and appeal for his help in our resolve to live the life he intended for us.

RETURN – the ashes are brushed on the forehead in the shape of the cross. We are mortal and destined for the dust – but the cross changes everything. The cross of Christ, the love of God in action is the only means by which we now have hope of everlasting life. The ashen cross on our forehead urges us to leave off our pursuits of lesser lovers and  return to the only source of life there is.

The meeting will be quiet and contemplative. We’ll begin at 6 PM with a brief explanation, then a worship song. After that, as Matt continues to play, we’ll invite people forward to have the ashes imposed on the forehead. We’ll be handing out a sheet with meditative prayers on it, covering the themes of remembrance, repentance and returning. As you wait for the ashes, you can meditate on and pray those prayers. Feel free to stay for the whole service, or leave after you receive the ashes, it’s entirely up to you.

“How long do I have to wear the ashes, Rob?” Again, that’s entirely up to you – what’s important is the state of our hearts, not what we have on our foreheads. This is just a time for a visceral, tangible reminder of who we are in Christ, and an opportunity to draw closer to Him as a community.

I hope you can join us, Wednesday the 14th, at 6PM.