Ash Wednesday

Dr. Martha Moore-Keish
Yale Divinity School Prof.

Eastern Christianity has already started the Lent, the Western Churches will begin tomorrow with the Ash Wednesday. Says Rev. David Ensign, the minister of the Presbyterian community of Clarendon, VA (progressive, inclusive, diverse), I prefer to think of Lent as a time for letting the roots of my own faith lengthen and grow deeper. And he adds, with a dose of humor, begin it tomorrow as the community gathers for what is, let's face it, the rather odd tradition of imposition of ashes.

Here he quotes Dr. Martha Moore-Keish (Presbyterian theologian whose research interests include Reformed theology, liturgical theology, particularly the theology and practice of the sacraments, and feminist theology), our culture does not know what to do with Ash Wednesday; we do a good job with the parties before hand, but feasting is certainly simpler than fasting -- both to understand and to do; the paradox of Ash Wednesday, and of Lent, is that we take on particular disciplines -- fasting, prayer, service -- in order to repent and conform ourselves more closely to Christ, all the while recognizing that Christ has already come to us before we sought him; this is the paradox of the baptized life.

(Church in America)