Ashes to Ashes

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Originally Published in the South Jetty Newspaper

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless [God's] holy Name…
for [God knows]whereof we are made; [remembering] that we but dust….
Bless the Lord, O my soul.  from Psalm 103

 February 18 marked the beginning of the season of Lent this year, when Christians around the world smear a crude ashen cross on their foreheads to remember our mortality…a cross that paradoxically traces the oil-cross of our baptism into the eternal life of God. On the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday we read the powerful words from Psalm 103 remembering our mortality as well as our connection to the immortal.

 It doesn't take long living in a climate such as ours in Port Aransas to remember that the things of this life pass away. Even plastic rusts or rots here, to some degree, or at least plastic (like our deck chairs) breaks after a short time. Even apparently strong metals cannot withstand, for long, the blast of the salt breeze off the gulf--that constant wind brings with it a reminder of our own frailty. And yet, isn't that why most of us are attracted to this place? To be close to that salty Gulf, to be surrounded by the bay. To witness the beauty of the sunsets, the joys of the water, the bounty of fish, and the calming of the waves (when the waves are calm.) That which elevates our spirits also brings to focus the temporal nature of life.

 Lent is a season of lengthening of days, as we move closer to the vernal equinox. The light grows, as does our clarity about what's most important to us. It is a season of seeing reality around us and within our hearts. So, to get real with ourselves, Christians smear the ashes on our heads, remembering to relish in the life we have been given, and that it will not last forever. All of that is surrounded, as it is in the psalm, with a reminder to be connected to that which is beyond the rust and the dust. A tether to the eternal, that will draw us into the eternal life.

 However you observed "Ash Wednesday" whether with the ashes, and recitation of psalms, or sitting in the sun on the beach, with a light dusting of sand, remember to celebrate the paradox of life. We are mortal, and we are connected to the immortal. Sing your own psalm of praise with your own mortal vocal chords while they can still sing. Boldly face down death, and call it your friend so that your life can be lived eternally, right here and now. Bless the Lord, o my soul, and all that is within me, bless God's holy Name.

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