Psalm 51
TO THE LEADER. A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN THE PROPHET NATHAN CAME TO HIM, AFTER HE HAD GONE IN TO BATHSHEBA.
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
On St Valentine’s Day Ash Wednesday
I want to mark foreheads with ashes in the shape of hearts
To remind us that we are beloved of God
There are enough reminders of death and destruction
of evil and corruption that assault us at every turn.
Yet how can I speak of love without repentance?
Or belovedness without confession of all the ways
that I am complicit in the poverty that stalks the world
as I hold on to an economy of scarcity
rather than embrace the abundance of God
who created the world in love and in goodness.
And as I keep silent in the face of violence and injustice.
I need to be reminded of what love looks like
“You are redeemed by the cross of Christ”
I need to hear those words
and have a cross smudged on my forehead
to remind me of the length to which love goes
Like David, the Psalmist,
confronted with his abuse of power
in violating Bathsheba
I, too, need to look my complicity in the eye
and be reminded that it is only the kind of love that embraces a cross
that will bring hope and healing for the world
Confession
Repentance
A cross
Wrapped up in love.
These are the rites of Ash Wednesday
(Liz Crumlish Ash Wednesday 2024)
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