Reflections on Ash Wednesday
Luke 9: 51 - 62 I found myself yesterday morning staring at dates on the calendar – it was Shrove Tuesday – Mardi Gras. The last day before Lent begins. Ash Wednesday was coming, ready or not. And beyond Ash Wednesday, all of the weeks of Lent ahead. As a pastor that comes with expectations – expectations about creating experiences for worship, learning, service. Expectations about creating an environment for people’s repentance, for new practices, for personal transformation. Expectations about my own Lenten journey. And all of those expectations this year are against the backdrop of unprecedented threats to our democracy, our security, our way of life – all of which feel amplified by living in the DMV – in the 24/7 new cycle that surrounds the nation’s capital. That somehow makes it all feel more urgent, more necessary while also dumping all the distraction into the mix. In my heart and mind I heard, “ready or not, here I come…” …along with some man...