Ashes have always been used to show repentance as well as grief. When confronted by God for his insistence that he had not offended the Lord, Job repents in dust and ashes.
In our modern day America, what does a season of repentance mean?
More than an acknowledgement of our individual failings, it should also be a recognition of our societal sins of not caring enough for the hungry and homeless, our exploitation of our environment, even our reluctance to take on those who hold power.
We ask ourselves, how do we, how can we hold power accountable for its abuses of which we’ve seen a great deal over the past two months? In addition to visible abuses, such as Minneapolis and pulling kids off school buses here in New Jersey, there are the abuses of power that are not so visible, such as regulatory changes issued by the Federal government limiting the power of the people. Just as Jesus did not stay silent when faced with the abuse of power, neither should we.
Prayer for the Day
Entering the season of Lent, a time of reflection, O God
May we consider how we have failed you and ourselves;
Holding onto a world that has changed before our eyes, O God,
We search for respite from the troubles around us.
Guide us, O Lord, so we are able to find the meaning
You have intended for us in our lives.
In the name of the One who shows us the way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
These are two things: sin and repentance. Sin is a wound; repentance is a medicine. Just as there are for the body wounds and medicines, so for the soul are sins and repentance.
John Chrysostom, theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople (347-407)
It is quite gratifying to feel guilty if you haven’t done anything wrong: How noble! Whereas it is rather hard and certainly depressing to admit guilt and repent.
Hannah Arendt, from Eichmann in Jerusalem (1906-1975)
A pure heart, create for me, O God, and a firm spirit renew within me,
Do not fling me from Your presence, and Your holy spirit take not from me.
Give me back the gladness of your rescue, and with a noble spirit sustain me,
Let me teach transgressors Your ways, and offenders will come back to You.
Psalm 51: 12-15 (Trans. Robert Alter)