Cathy Cox –
Rachel Held Evans on Ash Wednesday:
“Once a year, on a Wednesday, we mix ashes with oil. We light candles and confess to one another and to God that we have sinned by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We tell the truth.
Then we smear the ashes on our foreheads and together acknowledge the single reality upon which every Catholic and Protestant, believer and atheist, scientist and mystic can agree: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return.”
It’s the only thing we know for sure: we will die.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
That’s the truth.
The only question we have to answer is this: How do we live until we die? What does real life look like?
Both Isaiah and Matthew offer an answer to that – If you want to live a life acceptable to God, do all you can to stop living superficially, cautiously, afraid to either be as happy as the saints, or as selfish as the really wicked –
Do all you are able, with your voice, your vote, your money – says Isaiah, to “loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke.” “Share your bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked, you clothe them…”
And Jesus adds, “Give like mad – but don’t tell anyone!
Fast – relinquish the hold your own appetite has on you – Practice going without something you like for the sake of self-discipline, and so you have more to give – but don’t make a big deal of it!
And when you pray – nobody needs to see you, and no one needs to know how you wrestle with God as you learn to give over your life gladly – Just do it.
And whatever else you do – don’t store your greatest valuables in the bank, in crypto-currency, or under your mattress – because whatever you think your greatest treasures are, wherever they are – well, that’s where you heart – your real self – will be.
The oligarchs in Russia are realizing that right now – Their hearts were bound to their treasure, often enough unearned, but billions of dollars worth of that treasure has evaporated in the space of a week. And so where are their hearts now?
Let your greatest treasure be things you can’t weigh and measure – integrity, generosity, faith, courage, hope, loyalty, perseverance, love – If you store up these, your treasure and your heart will be secure – Nobody can destroy them No moth, nor rust, nor thief can touch them. Death cannot.
And then death we realize has no power over us at all.
We have seen an awfully powerful demonstration of that un-fear in Ukraine over the last week, as thousands upon thousands of ordinary people demonstrated where their heart is, where their treasure is, not in power or glory but in each other, and in their determination to be free.
Will they die? Many of them will, yes. Many of them already have.
Do you think they don’t know that?
But still they stand up and defy Putin.
Life is only worth living when you have decided what you will die to preserve.
And in the midst of overwhelming attacks, they sing, they mock the invaders, they weep, they clean up the messes, they rescue children, they help others get to the borders and into other countries where strangers are also feeding the hungry refugees welcoming the terrified and opening their homes to the homeless – Their hearts are where their treasure is.
Death is not the greatest evil. And the sooner we know that, the better. We will all die. And we will be remembered for something, You decide what.
So remember your death – because that memory before your eyes will teach you how to live, what to value, what is worth your energies. Listen to Isaiah and to Jesus.
So as we accept the ashes, as we wear them, as we remember that we will die…let us take seriously the Lenten obligation to begin again to live authentically, wholly, honestly, freely, even, when it is demanded, heroically, until that day.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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