Grace Lutheran Church Newsletter, February 2012
When the End
is Really the Beginning……Again
My Mom and Dad both smoked while I was growing
up. There were “ash trays” on every end
table and on almost every other flat surface in the house. To me, “ashes” meant the END—the nasty stuff
that was “left” after a cigarette or cigar had been smoked. “Ashes” had no redeeming quality, at
least as I experienced them while growing up.
When the “ashes” were not cleaned out of the ash trays promptly, they
would “stink” up the room. And if an ash
tray that had not been cleaned out was accidentally knocked over onto the
carpet…..YUCK, what an awful mess!
“Ashes” were dirty and hard to remove…..they often left a stain…..kind of like a ‘reminder’ that
they had been there.
My Mom and Dad have both died. Both of them made it very clear that they
wished to be cremated. Since I was only
13 when my Dad died, my Mom made the decision regarding what to do with my
Dad’s “ashes.” They were scattered in
the back yard of the first and only home my parents actually
‘owned’…..a home my Mom and Dad considered their ‘castle.’ A place my Dad enjoyed being in, working on,
inviting folks to, a place where he felt totally relaxed and at ease……a place
my Dad loved and where he shared
and experienced love in return.
When my Mom died, it was left to me to decide what to do
with her “ashes.” I remember feeling so
“empty” and so “overwhelmed” at the same moment as I received into my trembling
hands the box containing my Mom’s “ashes.”
How could it be? How could the
one who had given me life, fed me, changed me, disciplined me, taught me,
laughed with me, cried with me, grieved with me, grew older with me—how could
it be that the one who embodied all of these most intimate and significant
moments and experiences of my life—how could it be that I was now able to
receive into my hands what was “left” of my Mom’s human, mortal
remains…....“ashes”……this was the END,
for sure, or so I thought at that moment.
“Remember that you
are dust and to dust you shall return.”
On Ash Wednesday, February 22nd this year,
millions of Christians all over the world will hear these words as the sign of
the cross is made in “ashes” on their foreheads. This stark,
distinct symbol is not only
a ‘solemn reminder’ of our mortal, finite
nature, but also ‘an invitation’ to renewal—an invitation to trust God
to “redeem”
everything in our daily experience…even death itself. The ‘cross of ashes’ marked upon us on Ash
Wednesday invites us to return to that place where God was in Christ, forgiving,
redeeming and reconciling the world to God. On Ash Wednesday, we begin, once again our journey from the ‘dust’
and ‘ashes’ of hardened hearts, closed minds and constrained Spirits to joy-filled hearts, open minds and renewed Spirits, stirring within us—poking and prodding us to love and serve and care deeply for one another.
On Ash Wednesday, we begin, once again our journey from death on a
cross to a stone rolled away by the power of God’s love
embodied in new life that could not and would not be contained.
Uh oh! That is as far as Pastor
Carol got by the 3:30 PM newsletter deadline on January 9! The Interim Office
Secretary is draconian about that deadline – no exceptions! Perhaps PC will resume her theme in March. Perhaps we could have a contest: you submit
YOUR ending to her letter to the office by 3:30 PM on Monday, February 13! See
the article in this issue concerning the revised newsletter schedule.
Thy servant, Bill Shafer, Interim Office Secretary
Home | History | Directions | Organizations | Community