‘Ashes are what’s left after everything has been taken away’

CULVER CITY, California — For the faith community in Southern California, the ashes central to Ash Wednesday are both a remnant and a sign of destruction. As the Rev. Dr. Frances Wattman Rosenau said during the Ash Wednesday service at Culver City Presbyterian Church, where she serves, “Ashes are what’s left after everything has been taken away.”

Image

“So why do we keep this symbol? Why would we want to wear a sign of destruction?” she asked the people in worship who would soon be wearing those very ashes on their foreheads. “Especially for people whose lives and communities are in ashes, do we really need this extra reminder?”

“I’ll tell you why I’m sticking with Ash Wednesday,” said Rosenau. “I will have ashes on my head because life isn’t curated. I don’t get to pick and choose what happens to me. Wearing ashes is the opposite of a social media highlight reel. It’s a sign that bad things happen, and I know it.”

“I will have ashes on my head because it keeps me honest. Wearing a sign of destruction allows me to acknowledge and even show the broken places in me,” she said during Wednesday’s homily. “I will have ashes on my head because I know what it’s like to feel like the remnant of what’s left behind, and on this day I don’t have to pretend otherwise.”

Image

Ashes also remind us “how fragile and fleeting our days are,” she said. “Even the places we take refuge in, like our homes, can be gone in an instant. … Our neighborhoods are fragile, our communities are fragile, our loved ones, our own lives — all of it. All of it is dust, and to dust we shall return.”

“Looking head-on at the signs of ruin clarifies in me what I want my life to be for. If destruction is coming — or is here — I know who I will be for and who I will follow.”

Tom Zehnder, the church’s music director, helped set a contemplative mood during the service by helping those gathered sing “Sign Us with Ashes” and his “In the Silence.” The service also featured a reading of Jan Richardson’s “Blessing the Dust: A Blessing for Ash Wednesday,” which includes these words:

“This is the hour

we are marked

by what has made it

through the burning  …

So let us be marked

not for sorrow.

And let us be marked

not for false humility

or for thinking

we are less

than we are

but for claiming

what God can do

within the dust,

within the dirt,

within the stuff

of which the world

is made,

and the stars that blaze

in our bones,

and the galaxies that spiral

inside the smudge

we bear.”

Valerie Harwin, a ruling elder at Culver City Presbyterian Church, led worshipers in a responsive prayer that included strategies for growth during Lent:

“We fast on judging others

and feast on the Christ dwelling in them.

We fast from an emphasis on differences

and feast on the unity of all life. …

We fast from discontent

and feast on gratitude. …

We fast on unrelenting pressures

and feast on unceasing prayer. …

We fast on facts that depress

and feast on truths that uplift.”

“God has anointed and blessed you for service,” Harwin said to those worshiping in person and online. “God hears your concerns and embraces those in need. God urges us to be on the lookout for more opportunities for thanksgiving.”

The service ended with Zehnder leading the singing of “Christ, Be Our Light.”

Read “The Remnant of Ruin” from Rosenau’s “Almost Named Grace” blog here.