Ash Wednesday- Lenten journey and reflection begins again...

Psalm 51

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
   blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin. 

³ For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
   and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
   and blameless when you pass judgement.
⁵ Indeed, I was born guilty,
   a sinner when my mother conceived me. 

⁶ You desire truth in the inward being;
   therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
   wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins,
   and blot out all my iniquities. 

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and put a new and right spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me away from your presence,
   and do not take your holy spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and sustain in me a willing spirit. 

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   and sinners will return to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
   O God of my salvation,
   and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. 

¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
   and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ For you have no delight in sacrifice;
   if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased.
¹⁷ The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 

¹⁸ Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
   rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
¹⁹ then you will delight in right sacrifices,
   in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings;
   then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Reflection of a sort:

Personally I love to beginning the Lenten Season with this Psalm.  It has it all. I read and re-read and meditate upon this Psalm.  Today we begin the observing of Lent with the 40 days and 40 nights of Jesus fasting and praying in the wilderness.  This practice should not be something we do only during Lent but every day.  Anyhow the Lenten journey is certainly a time to reflect upon my own life and to see how I am in trying to live a Christ-centered life.  

First Presbyterian Church members and we had worship service at the South Frankfort Presbyterian Church sanctuary with both pastors leading the service.  It was meaningful and moving. Will as the pastor of South Frankfort Pres. impossed ashes on to the foreheads of the willing Presbyterians saying, "in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".  I am humbled as a cross was made on my forehead with these ashes of last Palm Sunday's Palm branches. This was the first time I received it from Will. I am reminded of Jesus riding the colt entering into Jerusalem as our King with all the people cheering him on with the Palms, their clothes and everything.  And then quietly in my heart I say, "Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.....O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise." Amen.

I looked up during the service and realized that the pastors did not have ashes on their foreheads.  And also only my husband was doing the impositioning of ashes.  I was so puzzled by that.  I knew he wanted a cross marked with ashes on his forehead.  As soon as the service was over I went over to him and I saw that he was walking toward me holding up the container of the ashes.  So, I reached into the ashes saying, "from ashes you come to ashes you shall return, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" and maked a cross on his forehead.  Now we have had an Ash Wednesday service.  (It turned out the other pastor is not comfortable with the imposition of ashes). 

Ash Wednesday is so important to me and most of my Christian friends, I would like to share a story. In 2001 while I was an associate pastor I went to the  Baptist East hopspital after the service to mark a cross on the forehead of Barbara Phillips, one of my perishioners.  She had called earlier on the phone telling me how she would miss the service.  Barbara was so happy as I marked the cross with the ashes on her forehead.  Having heard us and seen us her roommate asked me, so, I marked her forehead as well.  As I was leaving the room a few more people (some were the workers of the hospital) asked me in the hall way, so I did the same to their foreheads.  I felt my feet grow light as my heart filled with gratitude and humility all at the same time.  I felt how good God is to me and to every one.  For which even today 11 years later I say "Thanks be to God!".  I remember this every Ash Wednesday.