Good afternoon.
Sometimes Ash Wednesday feels like a downer. All that darkness and confession and reminders of our mortality. I like to think of the Ash Wednesday refrain: Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return as being surrounded by a deeper promise, an affirming, hopeful commitment by God to us. It is the blessing that is part of a baptism or confirmation.  Those words of promise are: “ ______________, you are a child of the covenant, sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.” The inevitability of dying is swallowed by the promise of life and life and life and new life. Amen?
If you like poetry, here is a poem that wonderfully expresses the promise that is buried within Ash Wednesday.
 
All those days
you felt like dust,
like dirt,
as if you all had to do
was turn your face
toward the wind
and be scattered
to the four corners

or swept away
by the smallest breath
as insubstantial

did you not know
what the Holy One
can do with dust?

This is the day
we freely say
we are scorched.

This is the hour
we are marked
by what has made it
through the burning

This is the moment
we ask for blessing
that lives within
the ancient ashes,
that makes its home
inside of the soil of
this sacred earth.

So let us be marked
not for sorrow.
And let us be marked
not for shame.
Let us be marked
not for false humility
or for thinking
we are less
than we are

but for claiming
what God can do
within the dust,
within the dirt,
within the stuff
of which the world
is made
and the stars that blaze
in our bones
and the galaxies that spiral
inside of the smudge
we bear.

Blessing The Dust - Jan Richardson

Good afternoon,
When you come to this week’s worship service, something special is awaiting. Not only will we celebrate the Sacrament of Lord’s Supper, but we will take time to sing the quiet, meditative songs of Taize as we light a candle, say a prayer, or receive an anointing with oil as we begin the Lenten journey to Easter. The scripture passage for the day is an intriguing visit made to Jesus by an unlikely person. Remember to come early for coffee or tea before worship.
See you in church!
Pastor Michael        
 
The adult Sunday School will gather at 9:45 a.m. in the lounge. Read the story of the intriguing visit I refer to above, see John 3: 1-21.

“We are all pencils in the hand of God.” - Mother Theresa. God is writing a story through your life. During Lent we focus more intentionally on our relationship with the God who is writing a holy story through us. Your relationship with God does matter. YOUR relationship, not someone else’s. Be true to God. Be true to yourself. As Paul writes to the Philippians: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”  ​

Good afternoon brothers and sisters,
As often happens, Heather broadens and deepens my faith. She shared a post with me advocating the spiritual discipline of courage. Most of us have heard of the disciplines of prayer, fasting, study, meditation. Yet courage is a discipline practiced by Christians throughout history. Courage to stand for our faith in spite of mockery or persecution; courage to forgive someone who has hurt you – or courage to love an enemy! Courage to stand for justice. Courage to be a peacemaker in a time of conflict and discord. As is true with all spiritual disciplines, courage is developed by an active and healthy life of prayer. As we read in II Timothy 1: 7: God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control.
Be strong in faith and love. God bless.

Tonight we will meet at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. We will gather to worship and have ashes imposed on our foreheads.
            “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
These words are not meant to depress you…but remind you. Humbly. The bodies we occupy are a gift from God and these from-the-dust bodies have an expiration date. But we, as children of God, will not expire. God’s love will not let us go.
“You are deeply and wildly loved by a God who doesn’t need anything from you, yet wants you more than anything in the world.
Make today the day you finally stop striving to be worthy of this wondrous love and rest in the truth that you already are.” (Sam Eaton) 
 

Good afternoon,
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. We have prepared a meaningful and beautiful service. I am looking forward to it. Shaun, Sunny, and I will be joined by Pastor Jane Duffield and Elder Marsha Morris (you PW people know her well!) as worship service leaders.
The service begins at 7:00 pm in the sanctuary. Ashes will be imposed on those who would like that mark of humility and mortality.
See you tomorrow night? I hope so!
Pastor Michael