Lent begins with human touch as oil and ashes are traced in the shape of a cross on our foreheads. From dust we were made; to dust we will return (Genesis 3:19). The intimacy of this symbolic act expresses God’s invitation to “be reconciled” right here, right now, in this moment, no matter how ready we feel—for “now is the acceptable time” (2 Corinthians 6:2b).
Jesus has flung open the door and said, let nothing stand in your way. Come and see how loved and how precious you really are, in all of your humanity. Jesus will speak strength and love into all the places where you feel fragile and inadequate. He will speak hope into your fears and eternal life into your very mortality. For know this: you were never meant to do this alone.
Opening Questions
For those of you who have participated in an Ash Wednesday Service before, what was your experience like? Even if you haven’t attended one before, reflect on the words of the leader when they say, “from dust you came, and to dust you will return” and trace
a cross on your forehead or hand.
What does “belonging” mean to you?
What do you think of when you hear that you belong to God? Or that we belong to
one another?
My first experience attending an Ash Wednesday service was the beginning of my faith journey in 2010 at Pilgrimage UCC. My wakefulness included feeling somber realizing that Jesus knew his life was going to be sacrificed for us yet he continued on his trek bravely and determined to get the Word out, that I too will die and what would my mark be in my small era, and confident that I found a community of loving, sincere and caring people.
Trish’s description of the administering of the ashes as “sobering” sums up how I feel at that point in the service. A reminder of my mortality, which becomes more pointed with each passing year.
“ Belonging” is, I believe, something that all humans seek. It means feeling heard and seen and held closely - by other humans and all of Creatiion. At a time when I was trying to figure out where I belonged, Pilgrimage was, and continues to be a gift.
I've always found the Ash Wednesday service to be a sobering reminder of my mortality, highlighting for me the importance of living in the moment of each day. In later years, when I was imposing the ashes, it was a sacred moment of human connection with each person coming forward. It was also an experience of servicing in some sense as a messenger on God's behalf.
Belonging, for me, is the experience of connection to something outside myself. When I think about "Belonging to God", I feel embraced and sustained and assured that I will never be alone. I have loved and often used these words from the "New Creed of the United Church of Canada:"
In life, in death,…
When I hear the words, "from dust you came and to dust you will return," I feel a sort of calming comfort that my life's ending is part of the natural order of things. I don't need to fear it. God made me to live and God made me to die.
Belonging is a comforting word to me. It means I have a place that is for me. I can go there and be welcomed and received. It is safe there. Belonging to God means I belong to the world and creation. I have a worth or value to bring to my living. Belonging to others means we are a community that supports each other in good and bad times.