Yesterday we went to the 6:30 am service at the cathedral. A rosy dawn was just breaking over the lacy Buckminster Fuller dome and the tall spires of the churches near the old port; the city streets were still sleepy and nearly deserted. When we entered the church we heard murmerings; the service was already being said at a purple=draped altar in the side chapel, and we walked quietly down the side aisle and took a place among eight other participants: there were a few people dressed for their downtown office jobs; an elderly man; a couple of familiar parishioners; a homeless man. We said the litany of penitence together; listened to the days readings; greeted each other with the peace; received ashes on our foreheads; shared bread and wine at communion. It was quiet and simple and quite moving.
The Dean, who was celebrating the mass, echoed in his homily the words he'd said a few minutes before, from the Anglican Church of Canada's Book of Alternative Services, that we wore the sign of ashes not simply as a sign of our own penitence, but as a sign of our penitence for the whole community. What does that mean? he asked, and then mused about how we might consider this sense of penitence not only for ourselves but for the various communities we belong to, radiating out to encompass the whole world, during the season of Lent. He spoke of it as a time to consider the impact of our food choices; our use of fossil fuels; our level of consumption in general; our investments. And he challenged us to think about how we might act, not merely by giving up some symbol like coffee or chocolate or alcohol, but by thinking about how we can work within our careers to make the world a better and more sustainable place for all its people, or to consider involvement in politics, or in social justice ministries.
I've always been ambivalent about the imposition of ashes; some of it's because I was raised in a low-church tradition, and ashes seem so over-the-top Roman Catholic. But it's also because I'm uncomfortable with visible signs of one's supposed piety, as well as one's sin: for that reason I like the traditional Ash Wednesday reading that admonishes us not to show the world that we are fasting or giving alms, but to go into our room and shut the door "and pray to our father who is in secret." But the Dean's message resonated with me yesterday, and I did resolve to think not only of myself and my own shortcomings this Lent, but to take on, in whatever way I can, a sense of penitence for the whole community, for this world. Maybe something will come out of it that is new in my life.
On the way home, we watched the city waking. On one streetcorner in the gay village, we saw a woman, with a vaguely Asian face, waiting for a snowplow to move out of her way so she could cross. She seemed agitated; her face was twisted with worry and she stood on one foot and then the other, as if by moving her own limbs she could get this large metal obstacle to move faster. It was very cold and she wore no hat, no gloves. The plow finally started forward; she darted around the back and disappeared down the street; we drove on.
Hers is only one life among millions in this city, but I can't get her out of my mind.
Ash Wednesday is always a special day for me. I enjoyed your take on it. I took my grandaughter to the 7:30 pm mass at the Catedral de la Epifania here in Sioux City. We got there 15 minutes early. People were waiting outside in the cold Iowa winter. There were well over athousand people there. Most of the people were hispanic but there were a sprinkling of Anglos and Vietnamese. This mass is in Spanish. The English mass was at 10:30 am and there was no Vietnamese mass that day. We were able to find a spot near the front. My grandaughter sat on my lap. She was very exited to go to this mass. They had been studying about it at her Lutheran preschool. She only knows a little Dora the Explorer Spanish but enjoyed the mass and was very exited to receive the ashes. I had been babysitting here that evening while my daughter was going to night school at the community college. Her class was business ethics I think. Now tonight(friday) I have to find a good fish fry....Maybe at St Mikes....
Posted by: Fred Garber | February 23, 2007 at 09:54 AM
This is a moving reflection--I was struck by the number of ash-marked foreheads I saw yesterday, in this more-Catholic-than-home city.
And is that you I see on the letters page of the NYT this morning? Bravo.
Posted by: elizabeth | February 23, 2007 at 10:37 AM
similar to the bodhisattva vow - this penitence for the world - would you say? religions are so very similar it amazes me that we can get so belligerent about the small differences.
Posted by: connie | February 23, 2007 at 07:42 PM
I am with Connie, I despair, at times...
Posted by: Mouse | February 24, 2007 at 01:54 PM
Yes, Connie and Mouse, I agree. Which is one more reason to reflect on it this season and see if there is something more to do personally to try to bridge the gaps. I've worked quite a lot to try to understand Islam, to get to know Muslims as good friends, and to try to make myself a bridge between Muslims and Christians. of course this does nothing on a grand scale, but I know it helps me and helps some others on an individual level, and it's also raised awareness within some communities of which the participants and I are a part. We can all do something - which is the essence of the bodhisattva vow, isn't it?
I wish everyone who reads this blog and isn't Muslim would at least visit a mosque, with an open mind and heart. Or any place of worship that is a different tradition from their own.
Posted by: beth | February 24, 2007 at 03:21 PM
I love the blog that you have. I was wondering if you would link my blog to yours and in return I would do the same for your blog. If you want to, my site name is American Legends and the URL is:
www.americanlegends.blogspot.com
If you want to do this just go to my blog and in one of the comments just write your blog name and the URL and I will add it to my site.
Thanks,
David
Posted by: David | February 24, 2007 at 06:31 PM