Ash Wednesday Reflections

Editor’s note: The following is featured today, Feb. 22, 2012, as part of the “Weekly Reflection” from Grace United Methodist Church, located at 458 Ponce de Leon Avenue in Midtown. It was written by Suzanne Ecklund, a Candler Seminary intern at Grace UMC, and is reprinted here with her permission.

Dear Grace,

As a young Presbyterian, I never understood why my Catholic friends showed up to school with ashes on their heads. Nor did I understand why they denied themselves chocolate for weeks on end. Couldn't they just give up fibrous, raw celery instead? Perhaps go five weeks without slimy okra? And what did the ashes and self-denial mean anyway? What did any of it have to do with God or Jesus or faith? I wrote the whole thing off as an empty rite and used the day to thank God that I was Protestant. 

When I became a Methodist a few years ago, I was surprised to learn that Methodists observe Ash Wednesday. Although I had no connection to the observance, when the day rolled around I dutifully took myself to church. And would you believe it? Ash Wednesday immediately became my favorite day on the Christian calendar!

We live in a culture that honors materialism, wealth and fame. We watch TV shows about people becoming rich stars. Advertisements communicate that we're too old and we must turn back the hands of time--now! And then in the midst of it all, comes Ash Wednesday. 

Ash Wednesday is a day to remember that we are mortal--and to let that fact challenge and change us. I love this! Because the illusion of immortality can invite a kind of spiritual laziness. (As long as we have a "tomorrow," we have an excuse today: an excuse to recoil, to dismiss, to compete, to judge, to hoard.) But Ash Wednesday challenges this illusion head-on!

On this day we are reminded that we will not stay young forever, that we are flawed, that we will die, that we cannot take our toys with us. It is, in essence, a day to get real with God. But there is a poignant beauty in the midst of all this stark truth: and that is that the ashes mark us as Christ's own. The ashes remind us that He died that we might live. In spite of temporal limitations and earthly distractions, we live forever through Christ.

After my very first Ash Wednesday experience, I ran up to my pastor and said, "I love this day! It's like getting all of your barnacles scraped off!" I had come to understand that Lent was less about caloric intake--and more about drawing oneself closer to God. I had learned that Lent was about examining the habits wedged between us and our Maker--and mindfully dislodging them. I had learned that Lent was about practicing a new way of being in relation with God.

We all get lost at sea sometimes. This Ash Wednesday, you are invited to set off on a new course. To change directions. To steer yourself into new waters. Join us in the journey.

You might even bring some chocolate for the ride.

With love, admiration and blessings,

Suzanne