02/18/2021
Dear ROCC Community,
What a week it’s been! I had planned on recording a brief Ash Wednesday reflection video for you to participate in at home, but given that my power and internet has been intermittent - as I know many of yours have been - that hasn’t been possible.
Ash Wednesday is the day in the Christian calendar when we put ashes on our foreheads, significantly made from last year’s palms, to remind ourselves and each other of our own mortality: From dust you were formed; to dust you shall return.
I don’t know about you, but I have felt like we never left Lent last year; when COVID shut the world down, we were only part-way through Lent and hadn’t yet seen resurrection. When we first said we would halt in-person worship, we planned a big Easter celebration! Then… we planned an “Easter” celebration for when we could get back together.
And, here we are.
Nearly a year later.
And more aware than ever of our own mortality.
In addition to the myriad ways COVID and the consequences of that have reminded us of our own mortality, this past week has brought it to a new level. For the last year, we’ve been stuck in our homes; this week, our homes are literally freezing. Some of us don’t have water. Just when we thought we were done with changes, yet another “unprecedented time” came our way.
So where does that leave us, on this Ash Wednesday?
It leaves us remembering that what is to come is so much better than what is, and that even in our most vulnerable, our most uncertain, our most mortal, God’s presence is ever with us. This week, as your power has flickered and your water has trickled, God is there with you. As you pray the heat stays on long enough to warm your body, God is with you. When you haven’t been able to leave your house and safely travel the roads, God is with you.
So look around your house. If you’re like me, there might be a couple surfaces that have collected dust, particularly this past year as we’ve haven’t had to prepare for company or a party. Find some dust, on top of the tv or on a back shelf or behind a photo frame. Run your finger over it. Look at it. Think about this past year, and this coming Lent. What has been getting sort of “dusty” in your own life lately? Beyond the gathered specs on your shelf, what in your life has kept your focus from God? How can you intentionally purpose yourself, in these next forty days until Easter, to think and act differently? Traditionally people either fast from something, or add something into your life - particularly acts of charity - during this time. In a season that feels like we’ve already lost so much, maybe this is a year to add something in: prayer, Scripture reading, learning about perspectives different from your own, getting involved in the work of God’s justice in a new way.
From dust we were formed; to dust we shall return.
In fear but also in hope, we begin this season of Lent together, looking ever toward glimpses of resurrection.
And as we do, we remember that the God who formed us is the God who loves us and is with us, always.
Even today.
~ Pastor Sara
