Ash promise

The dark smudge on my forehead

feels dry and grainy.

Felt cool and damp as it was placed there.

Already it has changed

Remember you are dust

and to dust you shall return

Dry, sobering words

Very Scottish

Even Scottish Presbyterian

God forbid that any should forget

their humble beginnings

or equally humble, inevitable end

Summed up in a smudge of ash!

Sobering if that were all:

Remember that you are dust

and to dust you shall return.

But, there's more.

In those ashes

lies not just a salutary reminder

but an exhortation -

a call to turn from sin

and live out the gospel

an affirmation

that, from those humble beginnings,

we are called to great things

Turn from sin and live out the gospel

transforming the dirty smudge on my forehead

into an aspiration of service

changing its weight and import

into a sign of hope

that this ancient holy day ritual

still has import

In a world rushing on to the next thing

ashes become

symbols of love

carrying all the potential

to spread love

as the gospel is lived out

in ordinary people

in humble people

who don ashes

to change the world.

Liz Crumlish Lent 2012