Ash Wednesday Lessons

Today, Ash Wednesday, Christians traditionally remember their frailty and mortality, often reading: ‘…for dust you are and to dust you will return.’

Last night I woke up anxious and upset… Looking forward to my new teaching job, I set off in my car on my first morning but didn’t know where the school was! People couldn’t or wouldn’t help me. I was alone and helpless.

Our world is obsessed with strength, wealth and power, Ash Wednesday reminds us that one day we shall return to the dust from which we came. My dream was a reminder of my weak humanity.

Yesterday we learnt of the death of US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson who said:  

‘The white, the Hispanic, the black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the Native American, the small farmer, the businessperson, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay and the disabled make up the American quilt.’

The British quilt also includes the minorities, disadvantaged and powerless. His family said: ‘Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked.’ Jesse Jackson stood for and with Ash Wednesday weakness and frailty.

Darren used to come to our church, regularly suffering with severe seizures. In hospital his condition stabilised, and he settled in a caring residential home. Last year Darren’s health deteriorated. He was in a wheelchair, only able to walk short distances with the help of a walking-frame – Ash Wednesday’s weakness and frailty.

Yesterday Darren said: ‘(Recently) I felt a tap on my head. I heard a voice saying, ‘You don’t need your frame anymore.’ I needed to go to the toilet and reached for my frame. I felt God tap me on the head again. I heard God’s voice again, ‘You don’t need it.’ I walked to the toilet. Since then I’ve not needed it. It’s a miracle!’  I saw Darren standing and walking normally.

Darren’s transformation reminds us: Ash Wednesday’s weakness and frailty points forward to Easter’s renewal and resurrection.