Shake Your Ashes
“That's a hot song from the 30's, where every beat is accentuated. But that's not what I'm going to write about after lunch.”
That was this day’s blog tease, but I got real busy and it’s being written on Saturday. It was a long lunch; what can I say? I could be honest and say I never got around to it, because we’re not supposed to lie during Lent … or any other time of the year, for that matter. So I’ll be honest: I got busy and forgot.
As is the Catholic custom, I went to church and had my forehead crossed with ashes that came from the Palm Sunday leftovers, since burned and saved. It’s not magic and does not make me a particularly better Catholic; at best, it’s symbolic of “you came from dust” (ok, that’s not to be taken literally or my sex books were all wrong) “and to dust you shall return” (also not to be taken literally).
But you get the idea: This world is temporary for us. We get 70, 80, maybe 90 years to hang out here and make the best of things. But, guys and gals, keep in mind there is a future we should be considering as time goes along, and it’s not on this particular speck of creation where we happen to be occupying at the moment.
During the day, it’s an “I Believe” symbol of our faith. And not a bad one, at that; it’s visible and even if we decide to rub it off, there’s still that faint cross at the end of the work day. We believe.
That was this day’s blog tease, but I got real busy and it’s being written on Saturday. It was a long lunch; what can I say? I could be honest and say I never got around to it, because we’re not supposed to lie during Lent … or any other time of the year, for that matter. So I’ll be honest: I got busy and forgot.
As is the Catholic custom, I went to church and had my forehead crossed with ashes that came from the Palm Sunday leftovers, since burned and saved. It’s not magic and does not make me a particularly better Catholic; at best, it’s symbolic of “you came from dust” (ok, that’s not to be taken literally or my sex books were all wrong) “and to dust you shall return” (also not to be taken literally).
But you get the idea: This world is temporary for us. We get 70, 80, maybe 90 years to hang out here and make the best of things. But, guys and gals, keep in mind there is a future we should be considering as time goes along, and it’s not on this particular speck of creation where we happen to be occupying at the moment.
During the day, it’s an “I Believe” symbol of our faith. And not a bad one, at that; it’s visible and even if we decide to rub it off, there’s still that faint cross at the end of the work day. We believe.
posted by Tom Carten at 2:09 AM
1 Comments:
I always saw ashes as a way of standing up to be counted. It takes a little bit of courage to say, yes-I believe. That's what that ashen cross says to everyone who looks at you. Wear it with pride.
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