Ash Wednesday
For Wellesley College’s Midday Ecumenical Ash Wednesday Service
and St. Michael’s Evening Ash Wednesday Service
And Last week my daughter and I went to see the band Mumford and Sons in Providence, Rhode Island. I think I was the oldest person in the Dunkin Donuts Center, and definitely the oldest person in the pit – such is my love for my daughter and Mumford and Sons. I love so many of their songs it would be hard for me to say which one is my favorite – but on this Ash Wednesday I would like to quote one of my favorites which is called Awake my Soul.
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
And where you invest your love, you invest your life
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
For you were made to meet your maker
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
For you were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker
As Marcus Mumford sang this song, I thought this is the perfect Ash Wednesday song. Ash Wednesday is about realizing our mortality – it is about making priorities in our lives to live fully and meaningfully:
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
Awake my soul, For you were made to meet your maker
Lent is about deciding what kind of life you want to live. Where are you going to invest your time and your love? It is about thinking about concrete ways to put Jesus in the center of your life. If you are undecided about what you want to give up and take up for Lent – ask yourself – what is it that keeps Christ out of the center of your life? For many of us it is busy-ness. It is about the rush of life that does not put our faith at the top of our to-do list.
For me – when I put Christ at the top – it makes a difference.
In a Lent Devotional I started today – it had this reminder from Isaiah 43.2 (p.2.) That’s the kind of life I want to have.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
When you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you (Isaiah 43.2)
So what do you do?
The first step in pausing is to figure out what you are filling your life with. Check out your day – where are those 5, 10, 15 minutes maybe up to a half an hour that you could spend placing Jesus in the center of your life?
So for me, this year – I realized I wanted a more disciplined prayer life – not prayers on the go – squeezing it in when there was a minute. Not best 5 out of 7 days prayer life. So this is what I decided: I love watching Good Morning America as I get ready in the morning. But I have been noticing that the news I watch is filled with things that don’t really make my life richer, fuller, more meaningful. In fact, it leaves me asking, complaining, “why is what happened on The Bachelor last night news?!”
So as much as I like George Stephanopolis, Robin Roberts, and Michael Strahan, I decided I am going to use that time to pause and connect with God. I am going to put Jesus in the center of my life at 6:45-7:30am. I’m going to invest my love in Jesus, because that is what means most to my life.
It really does not take that much time to make a disciplined time of prayer every day. It is pretty much the time it takes to watch a Netflix Comedy. 22 minutes. Try 22 minutes of prayer. If that’s too much, halve it. Still too much? Halve it again. And again.
Here is the thing to remember about Lent – just like you cannot fail church, you cannot fail Lent. You have three good days of your practice and then you fall off. Do you give up? No. You just re-commit and re-commit over and over again. The spiritual life is not about perfection, it is about progress.
I wish you all a fulfilling and Christ-filled Lent.
Amen.
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