Yet this year It feels like I have encountered a liturgical slap to the face. One minute, "God with us" at Advent; a month and a half later we are dust and launch into Lent.
Nonetheless, I love Ash Wenesday. I am reminded that Jesus meets my ashen self and draws me close as I seek to follow the Messiah on the dusty road. So here is some liturgical poetry I wrote for worship tonight:
Even from the Ash (liturgy as poetry)
Remember you are dust
to dust you shall return
What about resurrection
What about life everlasting
What about all things being made new
Remember you are dust
to dust you shall return
40 days of confession
40 days of repentance
40 days of longing
for light
for hope
for promised new creation
Remember you are dust
to dust you shall return
We are the created
not the Creator
we were made from the earth
the earth we did not make
Remember we are dust
to dust we shall return
six days of the week
we fast
we pray
we remember
the world is not all right
children are hungry
violence and war are everywhere
suffering and injustice plague God's image bearers
Remember we are dust
to dust we shall return
Each Sunday a glimpse of resurrection
Easter yet to come
almost here
but not quite yet
So grieve and lament
become unsettled
not paralyzed by fear
live into God's dreams for a different world
Remember you are dust
to dust you shall return
Ashes bid us humility
Lent beckons us forgiveness
Solemn liturgy illumines the cross
Somber season directs us to our Savior's cost
Remember we are dust
to dust we shall return
So we wait and ponder
We linger and consider
We trust God's promise
Confident God will deliver
Remember you are dust
to dust you shall return
God goes with us on our Lenten journeys
Sustains us through our fasts
Jesus meets us in our wanderings
Holy Spirit comforts us at last
Remember we are dust
to dust we shall return
Today we pick up cross and carry
We follow Christ as dusty travelers
Yet we don't lose hope as Lenten pilgrims
God can resurrect us
even from the ash.
Related Posts
Matisyahu and Ash Wednesday
Between the Panes: Wendell Berry and Ash Wednesday
Why Ash Wednesday (Relevant Magazine)