I received the imposition of ashes on my forehead this morning, administered by an Episcopal priest who is assigned to the university where I work. She drew the ashen cross on my head and said the old words, "Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return."
I came back to work with my smudgy cross on my head and now half of my co-workers are confirmed in their belief that I am somewhat witless where personal hygiene is concerned, and the other half think I'm Catholic!
Oh well.
My church and most of the people who attend it completely ignore the season of Lent. Many of them know nothing about it, discounting it as merely "religious." Me, I almost ignore it. I don't fast from anything, and I don't really meditate on the cross any more than usual, but it fills me with wonder to think that millions and millions of Christian believers are participating in a ceremony today in which they remember that they are dust.
Can you think of anything more counter-cultural than that?
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