Value in Tradition

Comfort is rightly taken in community. Traditions can lift us up. Lent in general and Ash Wednesday in particular are extra-Biblical traditions dating back as early as the fourth century. As a child I often bristled, “The Catholic Church just made them up!” Possibly, but after attending my first Ash Wednesday service, I feel blessed by this tradition. As a Protestant church, the Lenten season can be something we observe not out of obligation, but with deliberation. Jesus asks,

But what about you? Who do you say that I am?

And we cry, holy holy holy, is the lamb! Life is difficult, but it is also precious and sacred. New York is a whirlwind of city: meetings, tourists, traffic, shows, events, entertainment; everything moves at a breakneck pace. I've been here five months, almost half a year, and it feels as if I moved in just yesterday. Today, for the first time, I am moving with deliberation, taking in each step, each encounter, each experience with purpose and with thanksgiving. Soup and salad never tasted so good!

For ashes you are and to ashes you will return.

My time in this life is precious, what am I going to do with it?