Ashes to Go

Some thoughts on offering Ashes to Go this morning...

Standing on the corner as traffic crawled by

slowed by commuter volume

and by the need to check out why there was a gazebo

at the edge of the church lot.

People passing on foot, intrigued by the sight

of a priest sheltering from the rain

surplice flapping in the squally wind.

“Ashes to Go” declared the sign - 

an explanation for some

perhaps dredging up a distant memory 

of church ritual from days gone by.

Or a deepening of the mystery for others

with no point of reference

to the Christian tradition of Lent.

Still, it was good to be there.

To witness to the presence of God

in the midst of life.

To acknowledge that there is no distinction 

of sacred and secular

but that each life

and each moment

is beloved of God.

And, in donning ashes,

encountering the Christ

whose call to repentance

is a call to freedom,

a shrugging off of conformity,

a release from living up to expectations

an invitation to experience grace

that arises from unconditional love.

May these gifts received 

in the symbolism of a smudge of ash

overflow into all the days of Lent and beyond.

Ashes to Go indeed!