Small Talk

March 2017

Lent begins with ashes.

In many churches, PACC included, the ashes come from burning the palms from the most recent Palm Sunday and mixing them with a bit of oil. Those ashes are a reminder than there is both a cost and a joy of discipleship. Jesus’ entry into the Holy City was celebrated with shouts of “Hosanna!” That was a shout of celebration and a cry for salvation.

Lent begins with ashes.

Like the ashes, Lent is a season of mixed emotion. It’s a time for reflecting on the relentlessness of conflict in the world and remembering the call to mercy, justice, and humility. It’s a time of anticipation because we know already that the Christ was not bound by death.

Lent begins with ashes.

The imposition of those ashes reminds us that “we are dust and to dust we shall return”. For that very reason, ashes also were (and are) part of mourning ritual. Because I like to play with words, I’m reminded that mourning and morning meet in the words of the psalmist: weeping may linger for the night but joy comes in the morning. (Ps. 30:5a)

Lent begins with ashes.

Faith calls us to embrace the challenges of living first and foremost out of love. One of the ways we’ll strive to make that real is by wearing purple wrist bands to help us be mindful of how we respond to the people and circumstances of daily life. I hope you’ll pick up your “A Complaint-free World” wristband on March 1st Ash Wednesday, between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. in the Narthex and Sanctuary.

Lent begins with ashes.

They mark us as God’s own, each made in the image of the Divine, and that is reason to rejoice.

Faithfully,
Jill