Ash Wednesday
For the Lord knows whereof we are made;
and remembers that we are but dust. Psalm 103:14
and remembers that we are but dust. Psalm 103:14
Yesterday, layer upon layer of snow filled the yard, buried the drive, covered the bushes, obscured the sky until the early afternoon sun began a reversal, a slow uncovering that will take some days.
Last evening, soft layers of smoke filled the church yard as youth burned last year’s palms for this morning’s ashes. Ashes that will soon be blessed, pressed onto foreheads, worn for moments or the day, marking an intentional reversal of things done and left undone that will take some days.
We will repent. We will turn. We will uncover forgotten vestiges of past unfaithfulness exposing ourselves to the warmth of forgiveness, and the dust of the road ahead, and the knowledge that we are fully known.
