Ashes Again?
Routines are a big deal in our house. I guess having three young children lends itself to that kind of lifestyle. We have a morning routine that consists of waking up, journeying downstairs to eat breakfast, followed by getting dressed, putting on shoes, brushing teeth, grabbing school bags, choosing a “lovie” for nap time, and into the car we go! We have bedtime routine, which is sacrosanct. We do bathtime, where they like to argue about who has to be the first one out of the tub. Selecting jammies is always a very big decision, and the grown-ups have learned not to make this selection for the kiddos, because our choice will inevitably be wrong. We read two to four books with each child and then it’s lights out.
Morning and bedtime routines run on a fixed schedule, and we have pretty much lived by the rule that many peers pointed us toward - Don’t mess with the schedule! You will pay the price if it is altered! So, my spouse and I sort of jokingly resign ourselves to the fact that we live and die by the routines in our house. In fact, the routines are so programmed and have been infused with so much special meaning and significance in our lives that I would say they have become rituals. The ritual of the first morning hug before sitting down at the breakfast table is my favorite way to start the day. The ritual of saying “I love you” as the last thing before we close the door to their rooms at night is so beautiful. These are sacred rituals in our home.
But recently, my 4 year-old has started to ask some questions about these routines and rituals. For example, she asked, “Why do I have to brush my teeth every day?” And we answered, “Well, because if you don’t you could get cavities and your teeth might fall out of your head!” She recently asked, “Why do I have to go to sleep every night?” Again, we answered, “Well, because your body needs rest so that you will have energy to do all the things you want to do tomorrow.” Every few days she has a new question about our routines and rituals. What I appreciate about her 4 year-old mind asking these questions, is that she actually makes me think about WHY we are doing what we are doing together. She makes me find a reason, helping me to ascribe meaning to those routines that I do on autopilot.
So, dear friends, it’s Ash Wednesday this week. The kickoff to the Lenten season - the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday. As my 4 year-old would say, “Why do we have to celebrate Ash Wednesday every year?” It’s an interesting question. Why does Lent come around again every 365 days? Why we take these 40 days, and set them aside as a separate time in the calendar of the church every single year to prepare for the celebration of the resurrection on Easter? Why don’t we do the 40 days of preparation every other year? Or every five years? Or one time, and do it up big, and then we’ve properly reflected and repented enough that we don’t need to do it again?
The answer to that question is not so very different from the answer I offer to my kiddo about why we brush our teeth every night before bed. Because the “icky stuff” that threatens her pearly white teeth keeps getting reintroduced, over and over again, every time she eats or drinks something, or as the yuck of the day builds up in her mouth. I remind her that the sugar from that sucker that she had today as a reward for helping her teacher doesn’t care that she brushed her teeth yesterday!
While maybe not quite the same as sugar on our teeth, the “icky stuff” that weighs down our spiritual lives, distracting us from what really matters, and separating us from God and from one another, also keeps getting reintroduced by the broken world around us all the time. Our ancestors in our Christian liturgical tradition must have experienced this too, and decided that the period of 40 days, a number of divine perfection in the Bible, would help us to devote our attention annually to the well-being of our spirits. They must have known that if each year we carve out some time and intention to our spiritual wellbeing, that on Easter Sunday, when we once again celebrate the invincibility of the Love of God, we might find ourselves in the best possible spiritual condition to be able to hear and understand the wonder of that news.
If we do these 40 days right, if we turn our focus inward, examining the state of our own spirits and cleaning off the junk that the world tries to pile on over the course of the year, the work we are doing is both healing and life-giving. We are healing the cracks, the dents, the breaks and the bruises sustained as we have taken on whatever the world has thrown at us over the past year. We are taking the time to mend and to fill in the holes made in our spirits and our hearts over time so that when we meet the brilliant celebration of Easter morning, we meet it, not perfect, but whole. This wholeness allows us to better connect with God and with one another as fellow children of God.
The Lenten journey helps us to build stronger, wiser, and healthier versions of ourselves. So, as my child would say, “Why do we impose ashes on our foreheads every single year?” What is the purpose of participating in this routine, which we infuse with meaning and make ritual, over and over again in our lives? I think that the Christian ancestors were giving us, not an obligation, but a gift. They gave us a window of 40 days every year where we have both permission and encouragement to take the time to check in on our spiritual wellbeing, something we can only do for ourselves. While so much of the Gospel has an outward focus, this 40 days is for looking inward.
So consider this an invitation… As the ashes are spread upon foreheads all over the world this year, they are often accompanied by the words, “You are dust and to dust you will return.” As you hear these words, may they remind you of how very small we are, in comparison to just how big God is. As we start from this small place of humility, let’s heal and move toward wholeness together during this Lenten season, and see where it takes us. I suspect that the work and attention we give ourselves during this time will help make us ready for a big resurrection party in 2023!
Amen.
