Lenten Devotional: February 22, 2023

Ash Wednesday

by Rev. Bob Martin, Senior Pastor

Ash Wednesday is the name given to the first day of Lent. It is originally called, dies cinerum (day of ashes), first practiced in the 8th century. Writings detailed that ashes were sprinkled on the head as a reminder to us all our lives are very fragile, indeed. The symbolic marking of ashes on the forehead was a way to represent an outer manifestation of an inner repentance or mourning. On Ash Wednesday, it is typical for Christians to come to worship with the expectation of having ashes placed upon their foreheads as the words, “You are dust and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). These replicate the words God spoke to Adam and Eve after they committed the first sin. Today is a day of remembering your mortality.

Meditation: Think about your mortality. What thoughts go through your mind when you think of your death? What bothers you? What gives you hope?