The Parched Season
Yesterday our sanctuary was transformed into a place where one could see and feel death. It was transformed into a place where the parched and thirsty space could penetrate into every part of your being. As I sat there watching our worship team transform the space I became transfixed on the smell and the feeling of death. I was drawn to the uncertainty that surrounded me.
In the midst of sitting in the gray and dry space I suddenly began to see the darkness with new eyes. For days I have been watching the bush (well it's more than a bush) outside my window. The huge gray and dry blob outside my window seemed to be lifeless, and yet after sitting in our sanctuary I realized that the tree is anything but dead.
In the midst of the branches that would break easily there is a life that is hidden deep within. There is life waiting to be called forth. It is waiting for just the right moment to make it's entry into the world and open to it's full bloom. I believe that's what Ash Wednesday does for us; it recognizes the death and the gray branches within us that can be easily broken. It calls forth the darkness and dryness that often penetrates our hearts during certain seasons of our lives.
As our foreheads are smeared ashes, it is like God watering our souls so that the gray, broken branches deep within will receive new life. The coldness of the winter months are being replaced with a warmth of the Holy One coming into our lives.
Yes, our holy space has been transformed; it is filled with death but in the death comes new life. As we walk the season of Lent I am excited about experiencing death and the dryness of my heart so that I can fully experience the resurrection that is coming my way.
In the midst of sitting in the gray and dry space I suddenly began to see the darkness with new eyes. For days I have been watching the bush (well it's more than a bush) outside my window. The huge gray and dry blob outside my window seemed to be lifeless, and yet after sitting in our sanctuary I realized that the tree is anything but dead.
In the midst of the branches that would break easily there is a life that is hidden deep within. There is life waiting to be called forth. It is waiting for just the right moment to make it's entry into the world and open to it's full bloom. I believe that's what Ash Wednesday does for us; it recognizes the death and the gray branches within us that can be easily broken. It calls forth the darkness and dryness that often penetrates our hearts during certain seasons of our lives.
As our foreheads are smeared ashes, it is like God watering our souls so that the gray, broken branches deep within will receive new life. The coldness of the winter months are being replaced with a warmth of the Holy One coming into our lives.
Yes, our holy space has been transformed; it is filled with death but in the death comes new life. As we walk the season of Lent I am excited about experiencing death and the dryness of my heart so that I can fully experience the resurrection that is coming my way.
A beautiful reflection. I had a priest friend one time who told me he never understood how one could fully appreciate the life and exhilaration of Easter without experiencing the dark and dry season of Lent; that in fact, we had no RIGHT to celebrate Easter without immersing ourselves in the Passion of Our Lord (not sure I agree with him on that one)!
ReplyDeleteLent is MY favorite season of the church year - it has always brought me to a deeper awareness of myself, and to those around me. It calls me to look deep within for the clear and present signs of Christ's life in me, even those signs that are buried way down deep like those little buttercups.
For all its' gray, dry, sober feel, Lent makes me smile. Because only during Lent do I truly feel, after all that examination, that I am okay, just as I am.