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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Worth Reading Wednesday: Ash Wednesday 2013 Edition (and a linkup opportunity)

I'm pretty sure I attended Ash Wednesday services a lot growing up, but as an adult, it's been pretty sporadic.  Some churches I have attended do not do a service, other times, if they did, I probably just didn't go.  I still like the posts I wrote about Ash Wednesday back in 2006, though, so I am sharing them with you again this year (I linked to them last year on Ash Wednesday too).

Ash Wednesday Part I
I've never really felt a connection to this season. I have some memories of not being able to eat meat on Fridays when I was a kid, and I probably gave something up, but nothing really sticks out to me.

Ash Wednesday Part II
It was a solemn occassion. The lights had been dimmed, and a candelabra with three candles was lit. Tiny glasses of grape juice were lined up on the altar rail; communion bread on small plates placed every so often. 

Ash Wednesday Part III
It's easy to go through daily life forgetting about faith. It is easy to go through daily life without a distinction of who we are. But today is different. Today we are reminded of who we are when we are told there's dirt on our face, or people look at us in a funny way when we go to the store, or we simply look in the mirror.

Resources for Lent
Clothed in God's Grace:  Lenten Devotional from Luther Seminary
Lent & Easter Devotional from Ann Voskamp
A Better Atonement by Tony Jones (haven't read it, but it looks interesting, and I hear it's free today).

Have you written something, or read something good about Ash Wednesday?  Enter the link below, so others can benefit and learn too.



2 comments:

Tia Dye said...

Thank you for sharing. I have never taken part in any part of Lent, and I find it very interesting.

Kelly J Youngblood said...

You're welcome. I think that it can become just a rote experience but in some ways I do miss focusing on it.