I watched the Ash Wednesday service for the Washington National Cathedral this afternoon, and I found my heart and mind, once again, reaching out for a reason as to why the world is in the grip of COVID-19. In listening to the Reverend Canon Dana Colley Corsello, I liked her analogy that every man has two pockets in his pants: one on the right is what we look for as humans…”the for my sake” or hubris and one on the left is the “I am the dust of ashes” or humility. Most churches in our country have yet to move from virtual services to in-person services because science officials feel it is just too dangerous to open up yet. Globally, over 200 million people have died from the disease; in this country, we have reached over 400,000 deaths. On the one hand, we want grace and mercy from God; on the other hand, we need release from the pain and brokenness of losing our loved ones and friends and of losing the connected feeling of being part of a community and a family.
We have lost our grounding with family, friends, and neighbors because our hearts have been disconnected due to social distancing. We are strangers to our own hearts because we only associate with others through a virtual screen. As for churches, there is no laying on of the hands, no washing of the feet, no hugging or welcoming into sanctuaries, and limited burials of our loved ones. Since we cannot do ashes on our foreheads, we aren’t grounded in our humility or our mortality. These two things remind us who we belong to, God.
When we are baptized, an invisible blessing tattoo is placed on our foreheads, marking us with the sign of the cross. By being marked with that sign, we are known to God by our names. A life well worn, well lived, and well loved is the gift we receive in that marking. Nothing can stop the love of God from reaching us; all we need do is knock on the door of His home. He will answer the door to our hearts and usher us into His Eternal love.
After all of the past years where we have come forward in our own churches to receive ashes from our ministers and priests, the sign of Christ’s cross burns in our hearts and lights the way to redemption and forgiveness. No amount of disease can stop us from being loved by our Eternal Father. If He calls us home today or tomorrow, we can have faith in His love and care. We were born from dust, and we will return to the dust. My heart and feet are grounded in the love of God and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. As for the ashes, I do miss them, but I can still feel God’s hand on my forehead. In a way, I don’t need the ashes because I know who my heart belongs to. It’s just nice to know they will return to my forehead in years to come.
Anna Hartt
