Fire, Ashes, Prayer & Healing on Ash Wednesday

Today I had a different experience with the imposition of ashes than I have for several years.  The words spoken with the ashes were not of mortality and returning to the earth.  Instead, as the sign of the cross was drawn upon me, these words were spoken:  "Hear the Gospel and believe."

Photo by Trista Wynne

The Gospel -- the Good News, dear ones, is that we will not be separated for long by the chasm of death.  We will all be together once more on account of the birth, life, death and resurrection of our Beloved, the Christ.  The Good News, dear ones, is that the whole world, which now aches and groans in pain and brokenness, will be filled with peace, love, new life and wholeness.  There will be no more death, no more tears, no more suffering, no more pain.  Each person will live in comfort and no one shall make anyone afraid, for all needs everywhere will be satisfied.

This evening, during our Ash Wednesday service, we received small pieces of paper at the door when we entered the sanctuary.  After a reading from Isaiah and the pastoral meditation, we wrote down our transgressions, our fears, our strife, our pain, our laments and our hopes, our dreams and joys.  As we gathered to receive communion, we laid our written burdens down in a bowl at the base of the cross.  With empty hands now, we received the bread and wine with which we remember our Beloved Christ, then we received the imposition of the ashes upon our foreheads.

Returning to our seats for a time of reflective prayer and penitence, we prayed for one another, for ourselves, and for God's creation.  We offered our confessions and prayed for healing from all sin.  The papers which we had brought to the front were soaked in oil and were then lit on fire.  

Photo by Trista Wynne - @ Murrayhills Christian Church

A great and glorious flame consumed our fears, our sin, our hopes and all which we had confessed.  That burning bowl of confessions put off quite a bit of heat as we prayed!

Photo by Trista Wynne - @ Murrayhills Christian Church

Thank You, Beloved, for drawing near and meeting us in Your sanctuary!

We come together on Ash Wednesday in order to look at our world, ourselves, and one another through Your eyes, Beloved.  Our hearts are often filled with grief and pain.  We come together to acknowledge the darkness, the shadows, the brokenness and the sin that covers the earth and the relationships around us.  

We cry out for Your healing and we commit ourselves to work together with You during this upcoming season in our lives.  We commit to practices during the days of Lent that will help us to gain perspective on ourselves and the people and world around us.  

Give us new eyes, Beloved: Your eyes.

Give us ears to hear the needs of the world around us, and the strength, courage and wisdom to answer those needs to the extent that we have been gifted by You to do so.

Photo by Trista Wynne - @ Murrayhills Christian Church

Help us, Beloved, to hear the Gospel, allowing Your Good News to penetrate every fiber of our being. Help us to daily lay down our burdens, remembering the flames and rising smoke of the Ash Wednesday service throughout the Lenten season.  May the sweet smell of incense arouse us when the time is right so we can rise again with You at the dawn of Easter morning, trusting fully in Your promises of New Life and in Your Spirit's power of resurrection.

Through Christ we pray, amen.