Ash Wednesday: Showered with stars
[et_pb_section fb_built="1" admin_label="section" _builder_version="3.22" background_color="#ffffff" custom_padding="0px||0px|" custom_padding_tablet="||0px|" transparent_background="off"][et_pb_row module_class=" et_pb_row_fullwidth" _builder_version="3.25" width="100%" width_tablet="100%" width_last_edited="on|desktop" max_width="100%" max_width_tablet="100%" max_width_last_edited="on|desktop" custom_padding="0px|0px|0px|0px" make_fullwidth="on"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_image src="https://christiancitizen.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/blair-fraser-15138-unsplash.jpg" align="center" force_fullwidth="on" align_tablet="center" align_last_edited="on|desktop" admin_label="Hero Graphic" _builder_version="3.23"][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="3.22" background_color="#ffffff" custom_padding="0px||0px|" custom_padding_tablet="0px|||" transparent_background="off"][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.25" background_color="#ffffff" max_width="620px" module_alignment="center" custom_padding="0px|0px|0px|0px" use_custom_width="on" custom_width_px="620px"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="Hero Graphic Credit" _builder_version="3.27.4" text_font="PT Serif||on||" text_text_color="#363636" text_font_size="12" text_line_height="1.2em" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" module_alignment="left" custom_margin="6px|||"]
Photo by Blair Fraser on Unsplash
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built="1" admin_label="section" _builder_version="3.22" background_color="#ffffff" custom_padding="0px||0px|" custom_padding_tablet="||0px|" transparent_background="off"][et_pb_row column_padding_mobile="on" admin_label="row" _builder_version="3.25" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" custom_padding="40px||0px|"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="Headline" _builder_version="3.27.4" text_font="Merriweather|900|||||||" text_text_color="#1d1d1d" text_font_size="60px" text_line_height="1.1em" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" text_orientation="center" max_width="75%" module_alignment="center" custom_margin="25px||80px|" text_font_size_tablet="52" text_font_size_phone="" text_font_size_last_edited="on|desktop"]
Ash Wednesday:
Showered with stars
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="3.22" background_color="#f7f7f4" custom_padding="0px||0px|" custom_padding_tablet="0px|||" transparent_background="off"][et_pb_row column_padding_mobile="on" admin_label="row" _builder_version="3.25" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" max_width="620px" custom_padding="0px||0||false|false" use_custom_width="on" custom_width_px="620px"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="Author Name" _builder_version="3.27.4" text_font="Merriweather||||||||" text_text_color="#323232" text_font_size="18" text_line_height="1.4em" link_font="Merriweather||||||||" link_font_size="18px" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" text_orientation="center" module_alignment="center" custom_margin="14px||0px|"]
J. Mary Luti
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Dateline" _builder_version="3.27.4" text_font="PT Sans|on|||" text_text_color="#363636" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" text_orientation="center" module_alignment="center" custom_margin="0px|||"]
March 6, 2019
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_padding_mobile="on" admin_label="row" _builder_version="3.25" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" max_width="620px" custom_padding="0px||0||false|false" use_custom_width="on" custom_width_px="620px"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="Lede" _builder_version="4.3.4" text_font="Merriweather|300|||||||" text_text_color="#363636" text_font_size="20" text_line_height="1.5em" link_font="Merriweather|300|||||||" link_font_size="20px" link_line_height="1.5em" ul_font="Merriweather|300|||||||" ul_font_size="20px" ul_line_height="1.5em" ol_font="Merriweather|300|||||||" ol_font_size="20px" ol_line_height="1.5em" quote_font="Merriweather|300|||||||" quote_font_size="20px" quote_line_height="1.5em" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" max_width="620px" custom_margin="30px||30px|" hover_enabled="0" text_font_size_tablet="" text_font_size_phone="" text_font_size_last_edited="on|tablet"]
You are dust, and to dust you shall return.
— Genesis 3:19
Halfway through the line, I almost lost it. Until that moment, I’d been in a ritual groove, looking my parishioners in the eye, dusting them with ashes, calmly delivering the ancient admonition: “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return.” One by one they came, listened, received. But halfway through, I faltered.
It wasn’t that I suddenly realized the gravity of what I was telling them — that they were breathtakingly fragile, that at any moment they could dissolve into elemental bits, that someday they would. I’d been feeling the heft of that truth all evening.
So, no, it wasn’t that I was giving them fatal news. It was that they wanted to hear it. It was that they’d lined up to hear it of their own free will. They knew exactly what the message was going to be, and still they inched their way toward the messenger.
My knees went wobbly as water. I wanted to wave them off, tell them they didn’t have to come, they could go sit down. But I knew no one would. That was the most stunning thing: Even if I’d said it, I knew no one would.
So I regrouped, kept tracing charred crosses, kept saying the old words. And they kept coming, one after another, offering me their foreheads with the trust of a child.
And when I told them they would die, some nodded. Some said “amen.” Some even smiled. They said “thank you,” as if, instead of sentencing them to death, I’d showered them with stars.
Prayer
Holy One, may I live this Lent in bare truth, total trust and knowing joy; for in life and in death, I belong to you.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="0px|0px|0px|0px"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_divider color="#a8a8a8" _builder_version="3.2"][/et_pb_divider][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_padding_mobile="on" admin_label="row" _builder_version="3.25" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" max_width="620px" custom_padding="0px||0px|" use_custom_width="on" custom_width_px="620px"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="Author Bio" _builder_version="3.27.4" text_font="Merriweather||||||||" text_text_color="#363636" text_font_size="18px" text_line_height="1.8em" link_font="Merriweather||||||||" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" max_width="620px" custom_margin="30px||0px|" text_font_size_tablet="" text_font_size_phone="" text_font_size_last_edited="on|tablet"]
J. Mary Luti is a retired seminary professor and United Church of Christ pastor. She shares prayers, sermons and marginal notes at Sicut Locutus Est. First published in The Christian Citizen February 14, 2018.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_padding_mobile="on" admin_label="row" _builder_version="3.25" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" max_width="620px" custom_padding="0px|||" use_custom_width="on" custom_width_px="620px"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="Disclaimer" _builder_version="3.27.4" text_font="Merriweather||||||||" text_text_color="#363636" text_font_size="18px" text_line_height="1.5em" link_font="Merriweather||||||||" link_font_size="18px" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" max_width="620px" custom_margin="30px||0px|" text_font_size_tablet="" text_font_size_phone="" text_font_size_last_edited="on|tablet"]
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="3.22"][et_pb_row padding_mobile="off" column_padding_mobile="on" _builder_version="3.25" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" max_width="780px" use_custom_width="on" custom_width_px="780px"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.27.4" text_font="PT Serif||||" text_text_color="#363636" text_font_size="36" text_line_height="1.4em" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" text_orientation="center" module_alignment="center" custom_margin="||70px|" text_font_size_tablet="26" text_font_size_phone="" text_font_size_last_edited="on|tablet"]
Want the latest from The Christian Citizen?
Subscribe to Christian Citizen Weekly
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_contact_form captcha="off" email="communications@abhms.org" success_message="Success! Thank you for signing up for the Christian Citizen Weekly!" module_id="et_pb_contact_form_0" _builder_version="3.0.87" custom_button="on" button_text_color="#ffffff" button_bg_color="#02b875" button_border_width="8" button_border_color="#02b875" button_border_radius="4"][et_pb_contact_field field_id="E-mail Address" field_title="E-mail Address" _builder_version="3.23" form_field_background_color="rgba(0,0,0,0)" form_field_text_color="#adadab" form_field_font="PT Sans||||" form_field_font_size="20" form_field_line_height="1.4em" form_field_font_size_tablet="20" form_field_font_size_phone="20" form_field_line_height_tablet="1.4em" form_field_line_height_phone="1.4em" custom_css_main_element="height:64px;" border_width_all="1" border_color_all="#adadab" border_style_all="solid" use_border_color="on" border_color="#adadab" border_width="1" border_style="solid" field_background_color="rgba(0,0,0,0)" button_text_size__hover_enabled="off" button_one_text_size__hover_enabled="off" button_two_text_size__hover_enabled="off" button_text_color__hover_enabled="off" button_one_text_color__hover_enabled="off" button_two_text_color__hover_enabled="off" button_border_width__hover_enabled="off" button_one_border_width__hover_enabled="off" button_two_border_width__hover_enabled="off" button_border_color__hover_enabled="off" button_one_border_color__hover_enabled="off" button_two_border_color__hover_enabled="off" button_border_radius__hover_enabled="off" button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled="off" button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled="off" button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled="off" button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled="off" button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled="off" button_bg_color__hover_enabled="off" button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled="off" button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled="off"][/et_pb_contact_field][et_pb_contact_field field_id="Full_Name" field_title="Full Name" _builder_version="3.23" form_field_background_color="rgba(0,0,0,0)" form_field_text_color="#adadab" form_field_font="PT Sans||||" form_field_font_size="20" form_field_line_height="1.4em" form_field_font_size_tablet="20" form_field_font_size_phone="20" form_field_line_height_tablet="1.4em" form_field_line_height_phone="1.4em" custom_css_main_element="height:64px;" border_width_all="1" border_color_all="#adadab" border_style_all="solid" use_border_color="on" border_color="#adadab" border_width="1" border_style="solid" field_background_color="rgba(0,0,0,0)" button_text_size__hover_enabled="off" button_one_text_size__hover_enabled="off" button_two_text_size__hover_enabled="off" button_text_color__hover_enabled="off" button_one_text_color__hover_enabled="off" button_two_text_color__hover_enabled="off" button_border_width__hover_enabled="off" button_one_border_width__hover_enabled="off" button_two_border_width__hover_enabled="off" button_border_color__hover_enabled="off" button_one_border_color__hover_enabled="off" button_two_border_color__hover_enabled="off" button_border_radius__hover_enabled="off" button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled="off" button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled="off" button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled="off" button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled="off" button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled="off" button_bg_color__hover_enabled="off" button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled="off" button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled="off"][/et_pb_contact_field][/et_pb_contact_form][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]