'My bad'
Commentary
Object:
I like to listen to how teenagers talk, though I admit that sometimes I really don't understand what they are saying. They have their own dialect or lingo. In fact, I think it's a kind of a code probably because they know that nosy adults -- like me -- are listening. Take these for example. See if you can figure them out:
"Why is Brandon 'cheezin'?" (that means "smiling" -- don't ask me why)
"Maybe we should 'chop it up' with him." (that means "talk about it")
"Okay. But do you have his 'digits'?" (that means his telephone number)
I could go on forever but I think you get the idea. I found the meaning to these and hundreds of other phrase on an online slang dictionary. So you too can eavesdrop and break the code of those sneaky teens and young adults -- until they figure out you're on to them and invent a whole new code.
There's one expression I didn't have to look up. I bet you wouldn't either. It's "My bad." You ever heard that? What do you think it means?
Right. It means "I messed up. That's my fault. I take responsibility for that. I 'fess up. I'll try to do better. Forgive me."
Our readings for today, especially Psalm 51, could be titled "My Bad." Tradition attributes it to King David, a man said to be after God's own heart but who had some confessing to do. Recall how he seduced Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most loyal officers. David got her pregnant. He did everything he could think of to cover it up. Eventually he had her husband killed. Tradition tells us that David wrote this psalm in this context. He's crying out from the depths of his soul, "My bad, Lord! My very, very bad!"
In a way, part of the purpose of Ash Wednesday is to remind us of the importance of saying and really meaning "My bad." Ash Wednesday is like a mirror held up to remind us that we are not always so nice and good, that we are in fact sinners, that we say and do things that hurt others and ourselves and our planet -- not to mention leaving things unsaid and undone that we should have said and done. This night, this part of the church year is telling us, "Go ahead. Say it. 'My bad.' Mean it. Take responsibility for it. Confess to God and seek forgiveness and not just tonight. Do it for forty days just so you will get the message!"
Ash Wednesday and all scripture would also remind us that it is not enough just to say, "My bad." What we are called to do is true repentance, to say, "Yes, my bad. I am a sinner." But also "My good. I will turn from the bad and seek the good. I will, with God's help, change. Become more who God and others need me to be." Saying "My bad" doesn't mean very much at all without a sincere desire and determination to so live that we have less and less reason to say it.
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
In many ways this short book is a like a sermon. Joel draws upon the writings of the prophets before him to deliver a message after the coming of a locust plague (see Joel 1:2--2:27). He sees this as a sign of the coming judgment of God -- "the Day of the Lord," and calls his people to true repentance in preparation for it. His call to weeping, mourning, fasting -- preparing -- is one that suits it well for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent when we are also called to such self-examination, fasting, repentance -- preparation for walking with Jesus to Jerusalem, to the cross, and to the tomb on Easter morning.
The underlying message in Joel is that God cares about how we live, actions have consequences, how we live and what we do matters, judgment does come. His message is really an optimistic one -- that we can change, repent, "rend our hearts" so that judgment is averted.
Read verses 1-2. Perhaps you have all seen war movies in which a siren was blasting because enemy airplanes were on a bombing run. That's one modern image that comes to mind here. Judgment, destruction is coming. Turn on the siren! Blow the trumpet (for a trumpet blast from the city wall or in its streets, like a ringing bell for some cities still, was a sign of alarm, that trouble was on the way). Joel is telling the people that a fiery judgment is coming. The smoke's already filling the air. Though he seems to be drawing on the image of a storm coming, it also brings to mind what you see if you have ever been around a great fire. Perhaps he also has in mind the sky being so filled with locusts that the sun is blotted out. That was just a sign of another coming darkness, a day of gloom and doom when the Day of the Lord dawned.
Read verses 12-17. The siren is blasting. It's not too late but time is running out. The fire can be avoided. Time to get up and take action! Let that trumpet blast be a call to action. Let it be a shofar (sacred horn made from a bull or ram), a holy trumpet calling all to repentance, to fasting, and to true sorrow for their sins. He is calling for a fast of lamentation, something that had been a part of their lives before, especially during times of great trouble and upheaval. There is still time.
Lent is a time for us to observe a fast of lamentation as well. It is a time to be serious about our sins, truly repent of them, prepare ourselves to experience anew, if not for the first time, the true meaning of Good Friday and Easter.
Lent is also a time for us to use our will and to take specific steps to turn our lives back toward God. Thus it has been traditional to take up some spiritual discipline like Bible reading, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving during Lent. Though these may seem like simple acts, they can help move us back to God, help us grow in love for God. Sometimes an act of will has to take place before the feeling, the experience can happen. What we do is not as important as that we do something, make some new commitment to our own walk with God. Lent is a good time for just that.
2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10
There are a number of connections between this text and the other readings for today. First, note the call to be reconciled with God in verse 20. In the verses before this Paul has talked about how in Christ the old has passed away and we have become new creations. In Christ God was bringing reconciliation, right relations back between God and humanity, and between human beings as well. This call is echoed in Joel's calling upon his people to turn back to God before it's too late.
Second, note the urgency here, like in Joel. Time is of the essence. Now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. It must not be put off (that is, repentance and accepting God's reconciling work).
Third, we have a role to play in all of this. Like Joel who warns and pleads with his people, like David who confesses his sins and then offers his life to teach other sinners, like Paul who earlier refers to himself and all of us as ambassadors for Christ, servants in this ministry of reconciliation -- we have a role to play in God's saving work. Our role is to first let that redeeming, reconciling work begin in us and then through us to others. Much of this letter, as does the remaining portion of this passage (vv. 3-10), shares how Paul had devoted his whole life to this very thing, even though there were some there in Corinth who were attacking him and questioning his methods and his message.
The heart of this passage is to be reconciled with God. It's not God who needs to be reconciled but us. We are the prodigal child who left home but God calls to us, invites us to come back home. We are Gomer, we are the ones who have been unfaithful, but God's love still reaches out to us. What is required is a coming to our senses, like the prodigal; a recognition of our sins, like Psalm 51; a rending of the heart, like in Joel, in order for us to see and truly accept God's acceptance and love.
God brought about this reconciliation through Christ. Verse 2 is especially interesting: "For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Luther calls this the "happy exchange." Christ took our sins as if filthy rags upon himself, giving us in its place his perfect robe of righteousness or obedience to God. So when God looks at us, God does not see our sin but the righteousness of Christ. (The story of the scapegoat in Leviticus 16 comes to mind here.) Behind all of this looms the cross when Jesus bears the sins of the world, receives the separation that sin brings from God -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Such is the love of God in Christ that he would take our place, bear the consequences for our sin, in order to reconcile us to God.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
In verses 2-4, on almsgiving -- Judaism put great importance on this. The Book of Tobit even says this, "It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin" (12:8b-9a). Indeed, they used the same word -- tzedakah -- for "almsgiving" and "righteousness." Jesus criticizes those who make a great show of giving alms, who make sure the press knows and is there to cover it. It's like they have trumpet players who blast away to let everyone know they are there and about to give to the needy. They have their reward, Jesus says, in whatever admiration such public display brings them. They miss, however, the greater and more permanent spiritual blessing God gives from giving alms without show and fanfare. God sees this if no one else does and that's all that matters.
In verses 5-6, on prayer -- much the same point is made here. Many Jews participated in prayer throughout the day. Prayer times were at 9, 12, and 3. One was supposed to stop whatever you were doing or wherever you were at these times, face the Temple and pray (which is still a practice of Muslims today). Apparently Jesus is talking about some people who make sure they are at prominent places when these times come so that they can be seen and heard by as many people as possible. It would be hard to miss them in the marketplace with their hands held high and their voices loud. They were talking more to the crowd than to God. Any admiration or praise they might get from that is all the reward they will get from such prayer.
Jesus counsels the very opposite of this. When you pray, go into the closet, that is, someplace all alone where no one will see you, no one will hear you but God. Such prayer brings the reward of being brought into God's presence, for such prayer is addressed to God. The image here is like that of two friends alone just talking and listening, enjoying one another's company. Prayer done just for mere ritual and formality or done for show is empty and meaningless. Prayer that comes from the heart in private is prayer with power and meaning.
In verses 16-18, on fasting -- there was only one day in which people were required to fast -- the Day of Atonement. But there were other times as well when it was encouraged -- with mourning, times of distress or national crisis, preparation for some new vision or theophany. There is nothing wrong with fasting. Jesus is not condemning it or saying it's unimportant. He is saying that if we fast, we should do it correctly. Just like praying and almsgiving, do it in secret so that only you and God know about it. Don't neglect your appearance or go into the streets with obvious signs that you are fasting (like covering your head with ashes so that they make you look frail and weak, you holy saint, you). Here's an interesting point: Because of these words of Jesus, some churches observe Ash Wednesday and place ashes on the forehead but on leaving the service wipe them off -- the point being that the true ashes are applied to the heart; not outwardly and certainly not for show. The important thing is doing these things for the right motive, really meaning them, wanting them to be used a means to bring one closer to God.
In verses 19-21, on treasure -- the normal tendency for human beings is to collect things, to store up material things. Isn't this what we hear constantly on television -- how we need this or that in order to have the good life? Jesus is saying here that material things do not last. They are fleeting. They are subject to all kinds of things that will quickly take them away, showing their impermanence. Counted among wealth in those days was a person's clothes, because moths so easily make them worthless. Coins rusted and wore out and thieves could easily break in and steal possessions. Do not put your life's effort into saving up treasures on earth, Jesus is saying, for they do not last. Instead, build up treasures in heaven, concentrate on that which does last and can never be taken away. A presumable part of what Jesus means here is the kind of things he has been talking about -- almsgiving, fasting, praying -- those things that bring one closer to God and to others.
Jesus is not condemning material things. He is just saying that if we look to them for happiness, peace, security, we will never find these things. They cannot truly make us rich. Only in loving God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves will we find a treasure of peace and meaning that time, death, and nothing else can take away.
Application
If you are a baseball fan, you know that spring training has already begun for baseball teams. Lots of them go to Florida or other places where they can get back into shape. A friend of mine just wrote and told me he's watching the teams work out.
Spring training comes after the months when the season is over. It's a time for getting back into good physical shape, honing your baseball skills, and there are all kinds of exercises and activities to help players do just that, for they have to be ready when the season begins.
In a way, Lent is our kind of spiritual spring training. It's that time we seek to get in better spiritual shape for the journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, the cross, and Easter.
The church has traditionally offered us many disciplines or exercises to help us get ready: almsgiving, prayer, fasting, Bible reading, worship, journaling, and such.
Spend the rest of the sermon talking about these disciplines for our spiritual spring training and encourage your people to take on at least one of them during the forty days of Lent. You may wish to provide them with materials to help do this: steps for fasting, or a list for daily Bible reading. Tonight really is the first spring training session for us. It begins with the receiving of ashes, with repentance, and with a new commitment to our walk with God.
An Alternative Application
"Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down..." I grew up with three sisters. One of the games they loved to play was jump rope. They would spend all afternoon playing, singing, and saying little rhymes and songs. I do not remember all of them but part of one went like this, "Ashes, ashes, we call fall down..." and then they would kneel to the ground.
Just a children's game? Just a silly song?
Not quite. It has only been recently that I discovered the real meaning behind that song (and so many little songs and stories children learned had some pretty gloomy meanings). This one refers to death, to the fact that we are, in the end, ashes and will fall down, will all die.
In a way, however, it is a tune we sing each Ash Wednesday. When the ashes are placed on your forehead tonight, it is a reminder that "ashes, ashes, we all fall down," we all are mortal.
The words may be different, "Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return," but the message is the same.
Lent begins by reminding us of our own mortality as we follow the footsteps of Jesus to Jerusalem and to Golgotha. Life is a journey and a journey has an end. We do not travel forever. One day we will come to the end of the road. Ash Wednesday reminds us of this and to travel well and wisely, to make God our ever-constant and loving companion on this trip, to one another as well.
Ashes are not our end, not our destiny. You will also receive tonight the sign of the cross in oil on your forehead. It is a symbol of life, of healing and love. For though this Lenten journey leads to Golgotha, though it begins with a reminder of our mortality, it does not end there. This journey takes us up and over Golgotha to a garden bursting forth with a life not even death can take away. Yes, ashes, ashes, we all fall down... but we do not stay down. Easter, Easter, we all are raised up!
"Why is Brandon 'cheezin'?" (that means "smiling" -- don't ask me why)
"Maybe we should 'chop it up' with him." (that means "talk about it")
"Okay. But do you have his 'digits'?" (that means his telephone number)
I could go on forever but I think you get the idea. I found the meaning to these and hundreds of other phrase on an online slang dictionary. So you too can eavesdrop and break the code of those sneaky teens and young adults -- until they figure out you're on to them and invent a whole new code.
There's one expression I didn't have to look up. I bet you wouldn't either. It's "My bad." You ever heard that? What do you think it means?
Right. It means "I messed up. That's my fault. I take responsibility for that. I 'fess up. I'll try to do better. Forgive me."
Our readings for today, especially Psalm 51, could be titled "My Bad." Tradition attributes it to King David, a man said to be after God's own heart but who had some confessing to do. Recall how he seduced Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most loyal officers. David got her pregnant. He did everything he could think of to cover it up. Eventually he had her husband killed. Tradition tells us that David wrote this psalm in this context. He's crying out from the depths of his soul, "My bad, Lord! My very, very bad!"
In a way, part of the purpose of Ash Wednesday is to remind us of the importance of saying and really meaning "My bad." Ash Wednesday is like a mirror held up to remind us that we are not always so nice and good, that we are in fact sinners, that we say and do things that hurt others and ourselves and our planet -- not to mention leaving things unsaid and undone that we should have said and done. This night, this part of the church year is telling us, "Go ahead. Say it. 'My bad.' Mean it. Take responsibility for it. Confess to God and seek forgiveness and not just tonight. Do it for forty days just so you will get the message!"
Ash Wednesday and all scripture would also remind us that it is not enough just to say, "My bad." What we are called to do is true repentance, to say, "Yes, my bad. I am a sinner." But also "My good. I will turn from the bad and seek the good. I will, with God's help, change. Become more who God and others need me to be." Saying "My bad" doesn't mean very much at all without a sincere desire and determination to so live that we have less and less reason to say it.
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
In many ways this short book is a like a sermon. Joel draws upon the writings of the prophets before him to deliver a message after the coming of a locust plague (see Joel 1:2--2:27). He sees this as a sign of the coming judgment of God -- "the Day of the Lord," and calls his people to true repentance in preparation for it. His call to weeping, mourning, fasting -- preparing -- is one that suits it well for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent when we are also called to such self-examination, fasting, repentance -- preparation for walking with Jesus to Jerusalem, to the cross, and to the tomb on Easter morning.
The underlying message in Joel is that God cares about how we live, actions have consequences, how we live and what we do matters, judgment does come. His message is really an optimistic one -- that we can change, repent, "rend our hearts" so that judgment is averted.
Read verses 1-2. Perhaps you have all seen war movies in which a siren was blasting because enemy airplanes were on a bombing run. That's one modern image that comes to mind here. Judgment, destruction is coming. Turn on the siren! Blow the trumpet (for a trumpet blast from the city wall or in its streets, like a ringing bell for some cities still, was a sign of alarm, that trouble was on the way). Joel is telling the people that a fiery judgment is coming. The smoke's already filling the air. Though he seems to be drawing on the image of a storm coming, it also brings to mind what you see if you have ever been around a great fire. Perhaps he also has in mind the sky being so filled with locusts that the sun is blotted out. That was just a sign of another coming darkness, a day of gloom and doom when the Day of the Lord dawned.
Read verses 12-17. The siren is blasting. It's not too late but time is running out. The fire can be avoided. Time to get up and take action! Let that trumpet blast be a call to action. Let it be a shofar (sacred horn made from a bull or ram), a holy trumpet calling all to repentance, to fasting, and to true sorrow for their sins. He is calling for a fast of lamentation, something that had been a part of their lives before, especially during times of great trouble and upheaval. There is still time.
Lent is a time for us to observe a fast of lamentation as well. It is a time to be serious about our sins, truly repent of them, prepare ourselves to experience anew, if not for the first time, the true meaning of Good Friday and Easter.
Lent is also a time for us to use our will and to take specific steps to turn our lives back toward God. Thus it has been traditional to take up some spiritual discipline like Bible reading, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving during Lent. Though these may seem like simple acts, they can help move us back to God, help us grow in love for God. Sometimes an act of will has to take place before the feeling, the experience can happen. What we do is not as important as that we do something, make some new commitment to our own walk with God. Lent is a good time for just that.
2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10
There are a number of connections between this text and the other readings for today. First, note the call to be reconciled with God in verse 20. In the verses before this Paul has talked about how in Christ the old has passed away and we have become new creations. In Christ God was bringing reconciliation, right relations back between God and humanity, and between human beings as well. This call is echoed in Joel's calling upon his people to turn back to God before it's too late.
Second, note the urgency here, like in Joel. Time is of the essence. Now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. It must not be put off (that is, repentance and accepting God's reconciling work).
Third, we have a role to play in all of this. Like Joel who warns and pleads with his people, like David who confesses his sins and then offers his life to teach other sinners, like Paul who earlier refers to himself and all of us as ambassadors for Christ, servants in this ministry of reconciliation -- we have a role to play in God's saving work. Our role is to first let that redeeming, reconciling work begin in us and then through us to others. Much of this letter, as does the remaining portion of this passage (vv. 3-10), shares how Paul had devoted his whole life to this very thing, even though there were some there in Corinth who were attacking him and questioning his methods and his message.
The heart of this passage is to be reconciled with God. It's not God who needs to be reconciled but us. We are the prodigal child who left home but God calls to us, invites us to come back home. We are Gomer, we are the ones who have been unfaithful, but God's love still reaches out to us. What is required is a coming to our senses, like the prodigal; a recognition of our sins, like Psalm 51; a rending of the heart, like in Joel, in order for us to see and truly accept God's acceptance and love.
God brought about this reconciliation through Christ. Verse 2 is especially interesting: "For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Luther calls this the "happy exchange." Christ took our sins as if filthy rags upon himself, giving us in its place his perfect robe of righteousness or obedience to God. So when God looks at us, God does not see our sin but the righteousness of Christ. (The story of the scapegoat in Leviticus 16 comes to mind here.) Behind all of this looms the cross when Jesus bears the sins of the world, receives the separation that sin brings from God -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Such is the love of God in Christ that he would take our place, bear the consequences for our sin, in order to reconcile us to God.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
In verses 2-4, on almsgiving -- Judaism put great importance on this. The Book of Tobit even says this, "It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin" (12:8b-9a). Indeed, they used the same word -- tzedakah -- for "almsgiving" and "righteousness." Jesus criticizes those who make a great show of giving alms, who make sure the press knows and is there to cover it. It's like they have trumpet players who blast away to let everyone know they are there and about to give to the needy. They have their reward, Jesus says, in whatever admiration such public display brings them. They miss, however, the greater and more permanent spiritual blessing God gives from giving alms without show and fanfare. God sees this if no one else does and that's all that matters.
In verses 5-6, on prayer -- much the same point is made here. Many Jews participated in prayer throughout the day. Prayer times were at 9, 12, and 3. One was supposed to stop whatever you were doing or wherever you were at these times, face the Temple and pray (which is still a practice of Muslims today). Apparently Jesus is talking about some people who make sure they are at prominent places when these times come so that they can be seen and heard by as many people as possible. It would be hard to miss them in the marketplace with their hands held high and their voices loud. They were talking more to the crowd than to God. Any admiration or praise they might get from that is all the reward they will get from such prayer.
Jesus counsels the very opposite of this. When you pray, go into the closet, that is, someplace all alone where no one will see you, no one will hear you but God. Such prayer brings the reward of being brought into God's presence, for such prayer is addressed to God. The image here is like that of two friends alone just talking and listening, enjoying one another's company. Prayer done just for mere ritual and formality or done for show is empty and meaningless. Prayer that comes from the heart in private is prayer with power and meaning.
In verses 16-18, on fasting -- there was only one day in which people were required to fast -- the Day of Atonement. But there were other times as well when it was encouraged -- with mourning, times of distress or national crisis, preparation for some new vision or theophany. There is nothing wrong with fasting. Jesus is not condemning it or saying it's unimportant. He is saying that if we fast, we should do it correctly. Just like praying and almsgiving, do it in secret so that only you and God know about it. Don't neglect your appearance or go into the streets with obvious signs that you are fasting (like covering your head with ashes so that they make you look frail and weak, you holy saint, you). Here's an interesting point: Because of these words of Jesus, some churches observe Ash Wednesday and place ashes on the forehead but on leaving the service wipe them off -- the point being that the true ashes are applied to the heart; not outwardly and certainly not for show. The important thing is doing these things for the right motive, really meaning them, wanting them to be used a means to bring one closer to God.
In verses 19-21, on treasure -- the normal tendency for human beings is to collect things, to store up material things. Isn't this what we hear constantly on television -- how we need this or that in order to have the good life? Jesus is saying here that material things do not last. They are fleeting. They are subject to all kinds of things that will quickly take them away, showing their impermanence. Counted among wealth in those days was a person's clothes, because moths so easily make them worthless. Coins rusted and wore out and thieves could easily break in and steal possessions. Do not put your life's effort into saving up treasures on earth, Jesus is saying, for they do not last. Instead, build up treasures in heaven, concentrate on that which does last and can never be taken away. A presumable part of what Jesus means here is the kind of things he has been talking about -- almsgiving, fasting, praying -- those things that bring one closer to God and to others.
Jesus is not condemning material things. He is just saying that if we look to them for happiness, peace, security, we will never find these things. They cannot truly make us rich. Only in loving God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves will we find a treasure of peace and meaning that time, death, and nothing else can take away.
Application
If you are a baseball fan, you know that spring training has already begun for baseball teams. Lots of them go to Florida or other places where they can get back into shape. A friend of mine just wrote and told me he's watching the teams work out.
Spring training comes after the months when the season is over. It's a time for getting back into good physical shape, honing your baseball skills, and there are all kinds of exercises and activities to help players do just that, for they have to be ready when the season begins.
In a way, Lent is our kind of spiritual spring training. It's that time we seek to get in better spiritual shape for the journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, the cross, and Easter.
The church has traditionally offered us many disciplines or exercises to help us get ready: almsgiving, prayer, fasting, Bible reading, worship, journaling, and such.
Spend the rest of the sermon talking about these disciplines for our spiritual spring training and encourage your people to take on at least one of them during the forty days of Lent. You may wish to provide them with materials to help do this: steps for fasting, or a list for daily Bible reading. Tonight really is the first spring training session for us. It begins with the receiving of ashes, with repentance, and with a new commitment to our walk with God.
An Alternative Application
"Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down..." I grew up with three sisters. One of the games they loved to play was jump rope. They would spend all afternoon playing, singing, and saying little rhymes and songs. I do not remember all of them but part of one went like this, "Ashes, ashes, we call fall down..." and then they would kneel to the ground.
Just a children's game? Just a silly song?
Not quite. It has only been recently that I discovered the real meaning behind that song (and so many little songs and stories children learned had some pretty gloomy meanings). This one refers to death, to the fact that we are, in the end, ashes and will fall down, will all die.
In a way, however, it is a tune we sing each Ash Wednesday. When the ashes are placed on your forehead tonight, it is a reminder that "ashes, ashes, we all fall down," we all are mortal.
The words may be different, "Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return," but the message is the same.
Lent begins by reminding us of our own mortality as we follow the footsteps of Jesus to Jerusalem and to Golgotha. Life is a journey and a journey has an end. We do not travel forever. One day we will come to the end of the road. Ash Wednesday reminds us of this and to travel well and wisely, to make God our ever-constant and loving companion on this trip, to one another as well.
Ashes are not our end, not our destiny. You will also receive tonight the sign of the cross in oil on your forehead. It is a symbol of life, of healing and love. For though this Lenten journey leads to Golgotha, though it begins with a reminder of our mortality, it does not end there. This journey takes us up and over Golgotha to a garden bursting forth with a life not even death can take away. Yes, ashes, ashes, we all fall down... but we do not stay down. Easter, Easter, we all are raised up!
