Ash Wednesday and Lent | sojourns with Jesus

Ash Wednesday Service in Westminster Cathedral

Lent for many is at best a confusing observance. To those in Protestant Christian traditions it is often little more than a funny name that is misunderstood, attributed as merely a hold over of Roman Catholic “traditions of men”, and at worse is a false form of spirituality that in some circles is considered blasphemously heretical. I should know I’ve camped in all three of those circles during different stages of my sojourn with Jesus.

Lent always follows after Mardi-Gras. Some think Lent is primarily a way to make penance for all the sin of Mardi-Gras. Mardi-Gras is known world wide as booze, guys and Girl’s Gone Wild, and hedonism that rivals a trip to Hugh Heffner’s place after the Pfizer man has made his weekly delivery.

The problem is this is not the case. The majority of us have a woeful lack of knowledge about any details of the life of Christians from the time after the Apostles to our own day. For some we so root ourselves in the Biblical narrative that we forget that God’s interaction with man continues after the last of the written Scripture ended in the first century.

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent in solemn reflection through visible expression of a believer’s faith. It is a period where a visible reminder is given of the hopeful inward change that has occurred in the believer’s life. A visible cross of ash is put upon the head of the observer to remind them of what Christ has done. The inward change should lead to a outward confession of faith in this case of deeds to accompany our words. The ash is symbolic. It is a mixture of special oils and burnt palm branches. Generally the branches come from burning the palms gathered from Christmas palm branches gathered from remembrance of Christ triumphant advent into Jerusalem. The branches symbolically are burnt down into ash as a reminder that Christ triumphant entry would end on the cross on our behalf. The ash is then mixed with the oil and put on the head of the believer with the recitation of “remember that you are but dust and to dust you will return” and/or “repent and believe the gospel.” The picture of Ash Wednesday is suppose to be that of a deep reminder of how truly flawed we are and in need of Jesus to save us. It should be celebrated by those who label themselves Reformed particularly those who hold to Calvinism. Ironically many Reformed no longer practice Ash Wednesday or Lent. The picture above is of a Catholic observer at Westminster Cathedral. I have a much deeper respect for Christian tradition since becoming Reformed and adopting the theological articulation of the Westminster Confession of Faith. Lent unites me a Protestant and my Catholic neighbor in following after the humility and humanity of our Lord. Ash Wednesday begins the drama of Lent which is our acting out parts of the life of Christ in our normal lives.

For the majority of Americans and Protestant Christians when they hear of Lent they think about the stuff under the couch cushion or the stuff in their pocket. Lent comes from the Teutonic (pre-Germanic) word Lenten that simply means Spring. Lent is a Spring time celebration of God’s goodness in delivering us from evil in the person and work of Jesus Christ by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is a refutation of ourselves in favor of meditating and clinging to what Jesus has done for us. Lent is a time to think of Christ afresh. Lent is a visible expression of hope in Christ. This is how we should think about Lent.

Stephen Buck

After seeing Joe Biden with the ash on his forehead, coupled with the terroristic plane crash in Austin, I caught myself staring at my Richard Dawkins "A" pin this morning. I don't want to be a mean person, but I think anyone can agree with me that terrorism is much meaner than any idea that is unpopular. According to wikipedia, Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. Webster defines it as

1.
the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2.the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.

During the makeup exercise of drawing a cross with the ashes of last year's Palm Crosses mixed with the Oil of the Catechumens, the following words are said:

Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.
—Genesis 3:19
Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.
—Mark 1:15
Repent, and hear the good news.
—Mark 1:15

A day of repentence for masterbating? A day of repentence for the meaningless word called sin? Sure it could be a day for turning oneself into the local police and admitting an actual crime. But that would be too much to ask now wouldn't it? Or how about a day of refunding the excess price paid for a good at the local mall when you can go online and see the exact same thing, in my case a camcorder, for $350 less! Na, just pray to an imaginary deity promoted by a man in a housecoat instead of giving me my money back. That'll fix it. Theism involves terrorism, threats of hell, and Ash Wednesday is a public way of showing the world that you are a victim of terrorism.

I am Anti-terrorist, aren't you? The poor IRS people terrorized simply because Joseph Stack, some propellor head who is smart enough to write software and fly a plane either doesn't understand the tax code and thinks they're out to get him, or more likely thought he could get away with it and simply got caught. IRS took his savings? Please, Joseph Stack took money that was supposed to fix my potholes and keep deviants like him out of the cockpit. Then the police chief had the audacity to suggest that they had been "blessed" for it not being any worse than it was. Please.

So, the A pin finds it’s way on my coat this morning after a minor adjustment to my frame of reference. Atheist. Aterrorist. A-Ash Wednesday. Arepentant. I am sick and tired of people being scared to death by others. I want to stand up and tell people to stop being afraid. I want to tell people that I am not afraid, unless I have a valid reason to be afraid. I want to tell people to go ahead and eat chocolate, and have one too many beers, and please keep masterbating.

I’m starting a new book called Thinker Toys, and I jump on the next train, the red line, because it’s cold so I can get off underground at the next stop and wait on the correct train safe from the elements. I start reading and begin objecting to almost every sentence I read, but I press on. The perverse dictonomy of Michael Michalko’s writing style is enough for me to toss it in the trash, coupled with his reference to “faith” on the first page. I look up, and the door is closing at the last stop before the tracks split….I’m stuck on the wrong train going the wrong direction. Damn.

Oh well, it’s happened before. I get off at the next stop, reverse course, get on the next train going the other direction, and get off at Mockingbird Station…not underground, but now I just need to get to work. I start to read again. Along comes a familiar face who I normally see walking the opposite direction downtown and we usually say “hello”, “mornin!” or something else pleasant and short. I don’t know his name or anything else. He says, funny seeing you here, and I told him about my mishap. He shares his previous and similar mishap with me and I notice him looking at my left shoulder. I now feel pressure.

As expected he says, “So what’s the A for?”. I shy away. “Well…it’s a response to Ash Wednesday.” He says, “But what does the A stand for?”, so I give in. “It stands for Atheism.” He literally loses his balance and takes a step back. “Oh wow. Really? Whoa.” was all that came out. “People need to know that it’s okay to reject that kind of terrorism.” “Oh I don’t know, if you follow the teachings then…” “Look, when people are indoctrinated with the concept of hell and it doesn’t even exist, isn’t that terrorism?” “Oh I don’t know….” Now his face is really grimmacing. “Look, Hell doesn’t exist, and there’s no scientific evidence to suggest that it does.” He walks away and gets on his train. No “have a good one” today.

Now I feel bad. There was not adequate time for the conversation, and I begin to regret my approach. But then I realize that its okay. The pin did the trick. I may have lost a regular “good morning” on my way to work, but maybe I was the agitator that may make him think down the road. Maybe he will tell someone else about his experience. I hope that I get a chance to apologize for my unrehearsed approach and my focus on the idea and the argument instead of focusing on just being nice to him.

I don’t want to see myself as an agitator, but in any movement there are the people who do the extremes, who just get the word out, and those people are necessary in order to define the middle. I like Biden, but I don’t appreciate him spreading terrorism , particularly ON TELEVISION. So if my national leader, coupled with an idiot 3 hours south of me are spreading terrorism, I feel a need to finally stand up…..and put a pin on my jacket…

…and answer questions,,,

…and respond to “Oh, I don’t know”….

…because I do know, that terrorism is wrong.
http://intensedebate.com/people/willadair WillAdair

Stephen,

Thanks for writing. I am going to respond to you but my birthday was yesterday and I haven't had a chance to write a thoughtful response. Check back soon.

Will
http://NotAccepted Marco Biondi via Facebook

I got to this page through Facebook (someone posted it). After reading it, I clicked Like and also shared it myself.

EDITED: For email, url, and spelling. If you are real post again with some more detail.