Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday & Lent - perhaps the one holdout in the recovery of church liturgical tradition - made powerful sense, continuing a pattern begun 3 months ago with advent's anticipation of His coming; we now anticipate His dying and resurrection.

I more clearly see patterns that rhyme, reinscribing a death/life, darkness/light contrast, which, like stanzas, repeat while moving the entire narrative forward. You experience this on a micro level at points along the way, while - stepping back - the entire pattern extends in a panorama. 

As in writing, the logic of a thesis layers and builds within the sentence, in the topic sentence, within each paragraph, throughout the essay.

Advent retraces Old Testament prophecies which do not end with Christmas, but rather sets in motion a series of ongoing births - you, me, the OT saints have a stake, too - as well as a birthing of new creation and the Second Coming of Christ. The payment is once for all - thank you, Martin Luther - but the effects reverberate.  

It's the reverberating part we are now discovering; otherwise hopelessly locked in a never-ending Groundhog Day; like celebrating your 10th birthday over and over again. Get me out of here!

Lent retraces Christ's life, specifically the 40 days in the desert - a vector to the events of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Otherwise, the most important event of the church calendar never felt adequately supported; seemed to drop out of nowhere, only to go away again. 

 

Ash Wednesday's communion service aligned the symbols, ordering the meaning of Christianity, while inviting you to accept the position of a follower; to be baptized unto His death.

Now, I'm really curious about Pentecost.