Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Ash Wednesday


I always envied my friends
who came to school
the day after Mardi Gras
with a smudged forehead,
a spot of ash or soot
index-fingered
upon skin to signify
what – exactly?
They told me the priest
at church did it but
they didn’t know why.
I didn’t know either but
ignorance never stopped me
from wanting my own smudge.

If you'd like to know more about Ash Wednesday, Pastor Mark Roberts over at Belief Net posted a column yesterday that describes its history and current practice.

Also see "40 Days of Lent" by Cassandra Frear at Moonboat Cafe.
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14 comments:

  1. Sheila SilerMarch 9, 2011 at 5:23 AM

    As a pentecostal we never did any of the "traditional" things, so I agree. Now I go to a Evangelical Covenant church that does observe - and I am going tonight to our Ash Wednesday service to get my own "smudge".

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  2. JerryMarch 9, 2011 at 6:57 AM

    paczi's and smudges
    I was a catholic and I'm still not
    sure why ashes on the forehead
    existed. I'll check out the site.
    thanks Glynn.

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  3. MaureenMarch 9, 2011 at 7:12 AM

    Good poem. It underscores the mystery of so much we accept without questioning, only knowing that we do not want to be one of the left-behind.

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  4. Louise GallagherMarch 9, 2011 at 8:11 AM

    Hmmm... so I was one of the one's with the smudged forehead. And I wanted to rub it off because it made me different!

    Good poem Glynn, as Maureen said, we don't want to be left-behind -- and it is always from our perspective that we experience our position of inclusion or exclusion!

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  5. UnknownMarch 9, 2011 at 9:18 AM

    I never did get smudged...but I was always curious about. Beautiful expression bro'

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  6. AnonymousMarch 9, 2011 at 11:19 AM

    i am glad i came along after these comments.
    it is all so wonderful and interesting.

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  7. L.L. BarkatMarch 9, 2011 at 11:32 AM

    What a great little poem. Nice and tight.

    Have you got your smudge now? :)

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  8. Kathleen OverbyMarch 9, 2011 at 12:48 PM

    Bones rising up to speak. iLike. Aren't the lines of "Pagan Christianity" a blur?

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  9. Cassandra FrearMarch 9, 2011 at 1:58 PM

    I'm celebrating today that God knows I am dust. How good it is.

    Sent you a DM, too.

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  10. SheilaMarch 9, 2011 at 3:38 PM

    Hijack: I'm drawn up short by the first commenter's name. My maiden name was Sheila Seiler. /hijack

    Glynn, the kids with smudges were a minority in my neighborhood. The memory I associate with them is being shushed when I pointed them out and asked my mom what they were.

    Cassandra, it is good to know that we're dust, isn't it? It comforts me so.

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  11. Brock S. HenningMarch 9, 2011 at 9:48 PM

    Glynn, I was a practicing Catholic growing up, and remember well the looks my non-Catholic friends would give me on Ash Wednesday. You summed it up well. :-)

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  12. Sandra Heska KingMarch 10, 2011 at 11:37 AM

    I was smudged once. It was very meaningful.

    I remember wondering what Vice-President Biden had run into last year. I had totally forgotten it was Ash Wednesday.

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  13. AnonymousMarch 10, 2011 at 3:38 PM

    Such a humbling mark, all sooty and soiled. I have yet to get my first ashen mark, but I have been celebrating the day quietly by myself for a while.

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  14. CherylMarch 10, 2011 at 8:17 PM

    I didn't grow up in a church tradition that observed Lent, so it's only been in recent years that I've come to understand the beauty and power of the tradition. Last year I was at Ecclesia for Lent and donned ashes for the first time, ever. Didn't know I wasn't supposed to wash my forehead.

    No matter, the experienced left an indelible mark on my memory!

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