I sit within the Uniting Church tradition in Australia, a tradition which, by and large, does not 'celebrate' Ash Wednesday as part of our church life. In my ministry i have spent some time within the episcopal (Anglican) tradition where i have learned the value of taking this day seriously. I still remember the first time that i was part of an Ash Wednesday service and the power of having my forehead marked with the sign of the cross, a sign of my mortality, but also my grief and sadness at my own and our corporate human fallibility and violence. In a time when we continue to inflict violence on each other and the environment in so many ways, i feel that this day plays a vital part in our Christian life. To paraphrase part of a sermon (see below) by Jan Remont ...
as Ash Wednesday grows close – and as I hear the news each day, look around me,
and search my own heart – I find myself thinking of ashes as . . .
ashes. Ashes in their stark deathly reality, not ashes as ground that can
still sprout – but in my mouth is also the taste of
ashes. I want to weep. In Iraq and in Africa,
ashes of war and ashes of hunger. The last ashes scattering in the wind
and no hope of fire to cook more food, because there is no food left and no
fuel for fire. Ashes of the many who continue to die in conflicts in the Ukraine and Syria. Ashes of Auschwitz, whose memories
are deep within us. Ashes of our Australia's integrity as we continue to treat Asylum seekers as criminals, Ashes of the dead Egyptian Christians beheaded by the Islamic state last week. Ashes of
the Rainforests that are burning even now to fuel human greed.
There is great power in Lament and it is a power to acknowledge our truth and to begin to strive for change.
Rev Gordon Bannon
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