Ashes

I was standing at the desk checking in my kids for their neurology appointment when a chaplain came in and asked if anyone wanted ashes. I remembered from my early years as an episcopalian receiving ashes. I watched as receptionists, nurses and such came to receive the cross on their foreheads. A woman wanted her children to receive ashes..a baby. I asked the chaplain to bless us..and as he put the ashes on my forehead, from ashes you came and ashes you will return, poured from his mouth. I closed my eyes and in the chaos of running from appointment to appointment, looking for where to go..rushing, rushing…God met me there.

I was blessed. I am blessed. I remember I am dust. And you know, that just kinda puts things in perspective. Being at Rush always makes me a little anxious. And in the whirlwind of my anxious heart, God came to me and said: dust. And I took a breath.

Listen to what the Word has to say about ashes.

Isaiah 61:

²To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord [the year of His favor] ^[a]and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

    ³To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion–to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit–that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

    ¹³For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,

    ¹⁴How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who ^[a]by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent ^[b]divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God?

I am tired.  I am weary. Yet, my soul stands. I stand in the truth of God’s word.

Pray on. Pray on…