The Ash Wednesday liturgy is unsettling. The sign of the cross is made with ashes on everyone’s head with the unsettling words: “You are dust and unto dust you shall return.” It can be a little too close to one’s own fears for comfort. But Ash Wednesday, of course, is not about comfort.
Most people who have known the passing of quite a few years realise that the human experience is full of good and bad, happy and sad. They know that the good things do not come without some cost, without some sacrifice, without at least some hard work. And that life and death are part of the cycle of our human existence.
Jesus tells us not to get caught up in trivial pursuits, but to focus on the important things, on a right relationship with God through prayer, self-sacrifice and care for others. We are reminded to turn away from sin and recognise our need for repentance.
The message of Ash Wednesday is that we must make choices. The message will be heard repeatedly during Lent, through the scripture stories we read, and through the liturgies of Holy Week, as we walk again that last week with Jesus – that last week of gruelling choices.
The ashes we wear today announce to the world that we are sinners. They tell all who see us that we are beginning a time of prayer, and repentance, and sacrifice – that we are seeking somehow to reconcile ourselves with God. These ashes say that we are work in progress. They say: God isn’t finished with me yet – but there is no time to waste, and Ash Wednesday reminds us of this. It is a day that calls us back to our mortality, it reminds us of the end of our earthly life.
Ash Wednesday tells us to not take a moment of this time for granted – to live and love to the fullest, to treasure those we love and those who love us, to treat people with tenderness and respect. Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent tells us to pay attention to the gift of time and to realise that it can all be gone in a heartbeat. It can all be gone in the time it takes to trace the sign of the cross on a forehead.
