2014 Lenten Devotional

March 5, 2014 -- Ash Wednesday

“Ashes” by Rev. Katie Russell

It’s always interesting to me how a single word can carry so many meanings and memories. As we approached Lent this year, I thought about the word “ashes.”

Growing up, my family spent our summers camping. Sometimes when I think of “ashes” I can smell the smoke of the campfire, I can feel the warmth and safety of flames and family, and I can see the gray dust still smoldering in the fire ring when I crawled from the tent the next morning.

Sometimes I hear the word “ashes” and recall my Grandma’s funeral; I remember the feeling of the lump that formed in my throat as my mouth recited the words of scripture but my mind wondered how the ashes of a woman so large—in stature and in spirit—could fit in such a small urn.

This year I happened to think of Lent last year, when just before Holy Week a Disciples of Christ church in Owensboro, Kentucky was struck by lightening, caught fire, and burned down.  This incident struck close to home for me.  Owensboro was only a couple hours from Nashville, where I was living at the time. The pastors at that church were friends of my friends. A family in my church was from that town: the father had been baptized in that congregation, the couple married in that sanctuary, the grandmother still worshipped there each week. It was devastating to think what such a loss would mean for a community of faith. But a few days after, when members of the church began to sift through the ashes, this picture was shared on Facebook:

In the midst of the charred building, a Communion Table still stood, somehow still shining white. It seemed to be a miracle—a reminder that the church was more than its building and that the community would go on. It was a sign of hope: new life would emerge from this destruction.

“Ashes” is a strange word. A strange idea. It carries strange memories. Sometimes “ashes” are associated with trauma, pain, grief, or death. Sometimes with warmth, comfort, or the promise of new life.

On Ash Wednesday, Christians often receive ashes on their foreheads and hear the words from Genesis, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” Like the very word “ashes,” this ritual is rich with meaning: it can be a solemn reminder of our mortality, but it can also be a promise of new life that has yet to spring forth.