Mid-Week Inspiration: Wednesday, March 2, 2022
No matter how hard we have tried this past year, we haven’t been able to get the ash taste out of our mouths.
And now, with war and violence staring down on us, our mortality is front and center.
“Remember, you are dust, and to dust, you shall return,” God spoke these words over Adam and Eve as they exited the Garden.
If you dare to participate in an Ash Wednesday Service, you will hear those words spoken over you as you are marked with a cross. I say courage because it takes a certain amount of audacity to come to a worship service where you are reminded of your mortality.
We are marked with ashes that remind us that we bear the burden of death. The truth of our transgressions might be unbearable if it wasn’t for the power of God’s forgiveness to address them.
The mark of ashes takes on the form of the cross, and the cross reminds us that we are infinitely more valuable than dust. This is because our dust has been infused with the breath of God - the death-defying breath of God.
Being marked with the cross is a reminder that nothing - not even death, not even war - can separate us from the love of God. And if there is a message we need on Ash Wednesday 2022, it is that message. In a world where violence knocks on the door, this is what we all need to hear as we take a journey from death to resurrection. Yes, we are finite but loved infinitely by God, who still makes new life out of ashes.
Jamey
Gainesville First United Methodist Church
Wednesday, March 2 / 12pm Chapel & 6pm Sanctuary & live streaming
There will be a lunch following the 12 pm service. Menu: Vegetable soup/broccoli cheese soup, turkey on a croissant with lettuce and tomato, Chips, & Cookies. $5 suggested donation.
this song. these voices. simply amazing.