Ash Wednesday
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Holy One for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.–Isaiah 55:12-13
In the day that God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— then God formed the human one from the dust of the ground, and breathed into their nostrils the breath of life; and the human one became a living being. –Genesis 2:4b-7
When I pray for our church community, I often picture a grove of trees. In 2020, our Lenten theme built on the ways trees in a grove support each other–sharing nourishment from their roots, conveying information through scent, protecting each other during storms.
Five years later, our Lenten theme—Deep and Wide: Becoming Beloved Community–brings me back to that picture. A beloved community is a community with deep roots, connected and intertwined. A beloved community shares nourishment–food, inspiration and wisdom. A beloved community protects and cares for its members. A beloved community goes deep and also goes wide, expanding beyond its edges, spreading seeds far and wide.
As I reflect on this beautiful picture, I turn on the evening news and see ugly pictures of forest fires and their ashy aftermath. We are in a time when images of chaos and destruction overwhelm our senses. The ashes of Ash Wednesday give powerful expression to our grief and regret, to our awareness of human limitations.
The ashes we put on our foreheads remind us of the reality of grief and loss and destruction. They also remind us of the promise of new life. After a forest fire, new life emerges. Sometimes the deep roots of the grove survive the fire and become a source for new sprouts; sometimes pinecones release their seeds in the heat of the fire. Always, it is beautiful.
We gather every Sunday, and throughout the week, seeking to become beloved community, to deepen our roots and widen our welcome. In the face of chaos and loss and confusion, our caring for one another and the wider community deepens the roots and strengthens the seeds that enable new life and new growth.
Deepen our community, O God, that our roots may intertwine. Widen our community, O God, that we may scatter seeds of hope near and far. Amen.
–Rev. Dr. Debbie Clark
P.S. Please join us for a simple Ash Wednesday service, this evening at 7:15 pm in the sanctuary or on our livestream.