You Are Dirt. And You’re Going To Be Dirt.

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Repent and believe the gospel.”

That’s depressing as hell. “Happy Ash Wednesday!” Said no one, ever.

These words, at the heart of the Ash Wednesday liturgy, are abrupt and harsh. They force us to think about that which we normally spend time and energy avoiding—death. We don’t like being reminded that we’re mortal, that there’s this looming end for us, that our lives will cease to be.

Our fear of death leads us to find ways to mask our mortality. We pay for makeup, anti-aging creams, hair dyes, and medical procedures that we hope will make us look younger. We laugh at death when we joke about our age. Ha! This birthday I got an AARP card invitation in the mail. Time to use that senior discount! We entertain ourselves with sacry movies that are about out running death.

Ash Wednesday cuts through all that deflection and says, “You are dirt, and you are going to be dirt.”

But then the liturgy immediately offers more, “Repent and believe the gospel.”

“Repent” literally means “turn around and go the other way.” In this context (and really in every context), repent means to stop being afraid. You might associate repentance with sin and think that to repent means to stop sinning. But if you look deeper, you’ll find that fear is at the heart of all sin.

So repent, stop being afraid, and believe the gospel. What is the gospel?

See, I’ve already lost so many friends at this point in this post, because the post is just too churchy. So many people I know want nothing to do with Christianity, and rightfully so. The church, which claims to house the faith, has hurt them too long and too deeply for them to see words like “repent” or “sin” or “the gospel.” Frankly, I somewhat count myself among them.

It’s sad. Because if you strip away all of the religiosity and church trappings, “the gospel” simply means “love.”

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Repent and believe the gospel.”

Means…

“Yeah, you’re going to die. Stop being afraid of it and love instead.”

I’d much rather spend my life loving and being loved than being afraid. Wouldn’t you?

Happy Ash Wednesday, indeed.

Posted by

Doug

Posted on

March 6, 2014

Posted under

Musings, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

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From Ashes to Glitter

A handful of Music City Sisters and Sister Mary-Go-Round hit the bars last night, offering glitter blessings in observance of (Sm)Ash Wednesday.

“It’s Ash Wednesday! May we offer you a blessing?”

“Um I dunno…what do I have to do?”
“Well, first you have to decide if you want it with glitter, or oral only…”

…We’d banter back and forth, laughing together until eventually we offered these words as blessing:

You are a person of joy.

Be yourself without guilt.

Protect yourself and those you love.

More often than not, the smiles transformed into looks of solemn wonder. I heard things like, “Thank you, Sister.” “That was wonderful.” “Wow.”

Near the end of the night, and after having consumed a few drinks, I was winding up a blessing when, on that last line, this slipped out: “…and proclaim….” I stopped short of saying what I was about to say, which was, “…and proclaim the gospel.” I smiled, laughed and recovered to finish the blessing.

As I walked away, I started tearing up. You see, I was a pastor for ten years in a denomination that, while struggling with the issue, describes homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching.” I was quietly forced to leave that vocation after finally coming to terms with my own sexuality.

The tears came when I realized the slip–up wasn’t really a slip-up at all. As a Sister, I am still in ministry. I am still proclaiming the gospel of love. Only now I get to do it with a cocktail in my hand while looking fabulous.