Good Stories

I’ve always prided myself on having a ‘good Ash Wednesday story.’ Whether or not these are actually good is of course debatable, but having worked in a very diverse and largely secular environment for a long time, I’ve always encountered various good Samaritans trying to wipe the smudge of dirt off my forehead. And while I have spoken a number of times on this blog about some of my discomfort in owning and displaying my Catholicism, Ash Wednesday has always felt like one of those days where it’s ok, and I’ve had really interesting conversations about religion and faith with people I’ve encountered from many different backgrounds and faiths themselves, just over a smudge of ash, and one time someone who had forgotten the day but wanted to go to a service said they were reminded by seeing me, which felt like an inadvertent good deed.
And yet I have always been struck by the incongruity between the obvious display of ashes and the readings of the day. The first reading from the Book of Joel reminds, “Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.” And it seems that Jesus could not be any clearer in Matthew’s Gospel when He says, “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
While I don’t think either way is right or wrong, this year circumstances have forced a somewhat different approach to Ash Wednesday which I think is more in keeping with my stated Lenten desire this year of wanting to reflect more internally on God in my life and work on my own trust in God’s plan. With my young son needing to get ready for daycare and then having to head to work, my own Ash Wednesday observance will be later this evening, when it’s unlikely anyone will see my ashes – yet God knows the desire in my heart, and I pray today at the start of Lent to spend more daily time in reflection with the Lord, growing more trusting of and confident in God’s plan for me.