Ash Wednesday begins the process of cleansing our lives so that the miracle of the resurrection might begin anew in us. Today is the day that we must acknowledge that we do need a good bath. We need the rains God's grace, of his forgiveness to wash over us, so that we can stand in the redeeming light of Easter.
We need to let the horizontal stroke of the cross wipe clean the "I" which wants to be in charge. We need to surrender ourselves to God so that "I" can be cleansed and redeemed.
A pastor tells this Ash Wednesday story which I think tells us all about the Ashes of this Wednesday.
" Avery - a quiet but faithful member of the Church who was always there.
He was not a tall man, but he was an imposing person.
Avery had a larger than average totally bald head, and it broad and well shaped so as to be the envy of all of us men. It was Avery who helped me get a more satisfying perspective on Lent. But this will become clear later.
This seemed the perfect time to try out the Lenten services in my new book, "From Ashes to Fire."
We followed the suggestions in the book. First the ushers passed out slips of paper on which the congregation was invited to write down some past sin, or some harmful habit that they would like to be forgiven for or delivered from.
Then these were collected and burned ceremoniously in a metal basket. Then these were mixed with darker ashes burned from palm branches - and now for my first experience at the imposition of ashes.
As the people knelt across the altar, each worshiper received a cross marked on his or her brow.
However, I soon knew I was in trouble. Many women were wearing a flip hairstyle with their hair pulled across their forehead, leaving no space for the mark.
As I struggled to find a place, sometimes the ladies would lift their hair and make room to put the mark on the forehead. But then it might partially disappear when the hair was released. Even the men had extra long hair. This was not going as I had expected. I was sweating profusely.
Then, moving to the middle of the last group, I saw Avery and that magnificent large, bald head - an oasis in the desert - a giant canvas on which to portray the fullness of God's love and forgiveness.
My eyes lighted up. Happiness welled up in my soul. It was a struggle not to laugh out loud with joy, and from the stark contrast
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