ASH WEDNESDAY REFLECTION
The afternoon light was gradually giving way to
evening. We entered silently. Some sat, some knelt.
I felt the reflective spirit and sombre mood of the
occasion. This was special – the
beginning of Lent and the preparation for the wonderful Easter to come. It was new for me to see St John’s in
candlelight. A few last rays of the sun
illuminated the stained glass beautifully.
I took it all in but mostly bowed my head in prayer and preparation. I wanted to dwell on the words of the
service, to open my heart more fully to God and to remember Him in the
quietness and flickering shadows.
We all went forward for the Imposition of Ashes. One by one receiving the grey-black ash mixed
with oil in the sign of the cross on the forehead. I closed my eyes and felt the signing of that
powerful symbol on my skin. I returned
to my seat, eyes down and searching to understand the full meaning.
When it came time to exchange the Greeting of Peace, I
looked about. What a shock! So that’s what I looked like! Everyone with black marks at the hairline, some
more cross-like than others, all evidently there, making a statement.
Thoughts raced into
my mind: the black of sin – I am marked
by my sin as I stand before God in this place…. But so are we all.
Then – we are all the same – sinners in the sight of God so
no room for pride. We all bear the black
mark of sin in one way or another, and all of us stand equal before God.
And then a joyful thrill to my heart as I realised also that
the sign of the Cross was upon us all!
The Cross of Jesus the Saviour, now symbolised in ashes and
oil, had taken and paid for my sin so that I and all the others, could stand
before God.
The black of ashes from Palm Sunday crosses reminding us of
Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem.
Jesus went to that city full of God’s power to prepare for his work as
Saviour – to die on the cross for my sin and for that of the whole world. The oil, representing both preparation for
burial – the death and burial of the old life - and an anointing to be special
and set apart for God, and to now live for Him in response.
The strong symbolism and meaning rushed my brain and my
heart at once and my eyes flooded with tears.
It was a most beautiful and humbling experience.
When I returned home, I kept on reflecting on how we are all
the same before God – His children, marred by sin but now marked by Jesus, to
be His, and to live for Him under the sign of the cross.
I took one last look in the mirror at the smudge on my
forehead. The ash and oil wash away but
the imprint on my heart and mind is long-lasting.
J. V.
St John’s Dalby
2012
