From Ashes to Ashes

From Ashes to Ashes… a reposting

Over the last few months, I’ve noticed an interesting rise in the number of religious questions that I get from my students.  And…if they don’t have questions, the curiosity which befalls them when we necessarily discuss Church history in the European context has also been on the rise.  Perhaps it has much to do with the new direction that the current head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, seems to be taking, but somehow I doubt it’s only that.  And then today, Ash Wednesday 2014, I’d received two questions about the day and its purpose before noon and, mind you, I’m on Spring Break!
For those of you who are not Catholic, it might help you to understand that the reception of ashes on one’s forehead serves a number of purposes, none of which I will pretend to place in order of importance.  First, the ashes are a simple reminder that eventually we all turn back into ash through the inescapable reality of death.  In other words, our actions, our memories, our thoughts, and our bodies all leave this Earth for good (assuming that you don’t believe  - as I do - that we are part of a greater universal energy that does not simply cease to exist with our last breaths). Physically speaking, we return to a never ending cycle of nature in which we become the ashes upon which other life is built.  This is perhaps the hardest reality to face, especially if you’re brought up Hispanic and have been taught to never discuss or, God forbid, prepare for death ahead of your time.
Second, I believe that the ashes on the forehead call the receiver to declare his faith outwardly, the very essence of religious symbolism.  In other words, do not be ashamed of that in which you believe.  Be a conscious member of the community to which you proclaim to belong. Know what your community teaches and be cognizant of the tenets of your religious or secular community.  Now, it might be a bit ironic to hear this from me since it’s been years since I’ve had ashes placed on my forehead, but I cannot not acknowledge the importance of the act for those who believe in the Christian faith.  The ashes are a reminder that we, as human beings, are called to something greater than ourselves.  We are, in the end, called to be better than we are today and, hopefully, less than what we will be tomorrow…and somehow or another this always leads me back to the question of legacy (which I will get to at some later point).

Finally, and most certainly not in the slightest sense least, the ashes serve a greater function than that of reminder or of identification.  They call us to our real mission(s) on this Earth, i.e., to leave it a tad bit better off than when we found it.  And this is what led me to want to write this blog post today.  I received a group text from a friend this morning who laid out a simple question: "So, what are you giving up for Lent?"  I’m not sure if anyone else in the group responded, or maybe they did and I was not included, but as far as I know no one else sent a text.  I, however, as has often been the case when I find a question that causes me to think about the greater things in life, felt compelled to respond with something I’ve always believed: "Why must Lent be about giving something up?"
Back in the seminary, a very long time ago, I remember the Lenten emphasis being on acts of commission, not omission.  I remember being encouraged to do something, not to give up something.  We were encouraged to go the extra mile in helping others; to put in an extra hour of prayer; to contribute more to the society around us as in a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen, for example.  And, this always made perfect sense to me.  The way I see it, Lent — whether one is Christian or not — is a perfect time in which to let our humanity show and to let the ideas of all the great teachers (Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, Mohammed, etc) show themselves to be the products of exactly what, as C. S. Lewis writes,  these men were: Great Teachers.  Lent does not have to be simply about sacrificing something for 40 days.  It is much more than that. It is about the basic ideas that these great men of history have taught as human beings.

And this brings me to my main point: the idea of sacrifice.  O.K., so in college I once tried to give up sarcasm for Lent.  Needless to say, I lasted perhaps a day and lost it while in Sr. Jean Flanelly’s Psychology class when I said something sarcastic out loud.  But, that’s not what Lent is about.  What good is giving up sarcasm, soda (Pepsi and the like), or candy when doing so actually is to our social, physical or medical benefit?  What good is giving up bread when, in reality, it’s something we should all be doing?  How do these things (bread, soda, candy, alcohol, etc) benefit society when we give them up?  In my view, they don’t, and therefore aren’t really sacrifices.  Now, time is another matter.  And in today’s Catholic Church (and others, by the way), the greatest gift one can give his or her community is the gift of time and talent.  And here comes my challenge.
Rather than try to figure out what you’re going to give up, try to think of ways by which you can make this world a better place.  Going to the gym for 40 days straight will only help you!  Giving up alcohol will only clean you out.  But, try to commit this period of Lenten sacrifice to one of time.  Help out a neighbor who could use some help with groceries.  Serve lunch at the local soup kitchen.  Take some sandwiches to the firehouse.  I don’t know:  there are so many possibilities.  But, whatever you choose, I think your Jesus, your Mohammed, or your Buddha would be a very happy soul knowing that somewhere in some place there is a person willing to make a difference and to change someone’s world for the better.  Don’t let them down.