Seeker

  Ash Wednesday feels very different this year. In the UK we are several weeks into another lockdown due to Covid and expect several weeks more. Last year, just before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, someone asked me if I planned to give anything up for Lent. My answer was that I hadn't yet decided, but had a feeling that "something would emerge". I didn't in 2020 make any decision about giving something up. In the end, at the start of the 4th week of Lent our 1st lockdown began and that included closing all public worship where people physically gathered together. So what I eventually gave up was 'going to church' for the rest of Lent and many weeks afterwards. I  didn't give up church, just the regular habit of going to a church building to worship with others - at least temporarily. Church is a community of Christian believers. Those local communities have continued to worship, pray and care for others throughout the pandemic in all sorts of cr...

Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday.  Many Christians take part in an Ash Wednesday service. For some, an Ash Wednesday service includes receiving the sign of the cross on the forehead or hand, drawn with ash mixed with oil.  The words that are said to each recipient as the cross is drawn are something like this: "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.    Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ." 'Remember you are dust...' is a stark reminder of our mortality and imperfections. It is an acknowledgement that we are human, not immortal and not perfect. It reminds us we are made of the same basic stuff as planet earth - our home. We receive the ash-drawn cross as a sign of repentance for the evil we humans have done and the good we humans have not done. Repentance is not only feeling sorry about sin. Acknowledging and lamenting sin is the start of a process. The process of repentance involves turning round, changing our attitude towards God and...

Why am I grateful for ash today? It isn't something for which I usually feel gratitude. Ash sometimes feels like a nuisance. I think of ash in a fireplace that has to be cleared out. Or ash carelessly dropped from a cigarette. Ash sometimes makes me feel sad. I think of the ash that was the last mortal remains of my parents and grandparents. Ash is certainly not something I usually use to decorate my body. I have never repented or grieved in sackcloth and ashes in the literal way I read about in the Hebrew scriptures. So, why today will I welcome an imposition of ash on my forehead, accompanied by the words, 'Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return'? It's hardly designed to cheer anyone up on a cloudy and wet Wednesday morning. Why is it good to be told you are going to die, that you are not immortal? Because I know it is true, but need to be jolted into facing up to that truth from time to time. For Christians, today is Ash Wedne...

What has St Valentine's Day got to do with Ash Wednesday? Nothing at all, except that this year the day to celebrate romantic love with cards, flowers and chocolates coincides with Ash Wednesday the beginning of Lent in the Christian calendar.  The last time that Ash Wednesday fell on 14 February (St Valentine's Day) was in 1945 and before that in 1934, 1923 and 1877. We won't have to wait long for the next time St Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday converge. It will be 2029. I suppose the main connection is that both feasts are about love, the frailty and fickleness of human love and the strength and faithfulness of divine love. Some of you might be marked with ash today to remind you of your mortality and to encourage you to turn again to Christ. Some of you may be enjoying chocolate, red roses, sentimental cards or special meals. Some of you may be doing this with a cross of ash still on your foreheads. Some of you may be feeling lonely and unloved today, or...

Why have I posted an image of a surfer for Ash Wednesday? I hear you thinking - isn't today about feeling miserable and gloomy and having a cross traced in ashes on your forehead as a sign that 'you are dust and to dust you shall return'? So why post such a joyful exhilarating image? Read on and you may understand - or not - tell me. During Lent I will attempt a response to each day's reflection in the book  'Barefoot Prayers' by Stephen Cherry . I may write a blog post each day - or not, but will read each day's poem and see what it sparks off.  The poem for Ash Wednesday is called 'Repentance' and has powerful images of walking into the ocean, getting deeper until "...each wave becomes a body blow, a   thud on the belly   a crash on the chest." If the surfer took no risk in facing the sea, there would be no joy in riding the wave on the return. What is Lent for? I think the main point of Lent it is to reconnect with God. That us...

F For a reflection for Ash Wednesday see here .

What matters most to you? When faced with terminal illness, the fatalities of a disaster, or attend a funeral, we're reminded of human frailty, the brevity of life. Sometimes that creates a determination to make the most of life or make things better for others. Today Lent begins, a time to re-focus on what matters most, a time for honest appraisal of who we are and what God calls us to be. If you take part today in an Ash Wednesday service which includes the imposition of ashes, you will be invited to receive a stark reminder of who you are with words like these, "remember that you are dust,   and to dust you shall return." The sign drawn with ash on the forehead is more than a sign of penitence and a symbol of mortality, it's a sign of hope. The ash (mixed with oil) is drawn in the shape of a cross, the sign of Christ, a badge of discipleship and reminder of his death for the sins of the whole world. Words like these are also said over each person receivin...

'Staring, sploshing and splashing' is about my watercolour painting attempts. In one sense it's play. I enjoy it. It's also a challenge. Here's my recent attempt at painting glass. The aim was to show its transparent quality. I think I've managed something of that with the green bottle. This sketch, done during an art class, was based on an exercise by Claudia Nice, 'Glass made Simple'. Well, it might be simple for her... Starting today (Ash Wednesday) and every day for the next 40 days (not including Sundays) I intend to spend a few minutes each day on anything that will help me learn to paint, even if it's just looking at or through glass for 5 minutes. Some Christians give things up for Lent. Some take things on. My Lenten 'discipline' this year is 'staring, sploshing and splashing'. In addition to this I'm going to accept a 'gift' offered to clergy of Oxford Diocese (UK) to set aside 6 extra 'days off...