Homesick
March 1, 2017 | My Jottings
I will have ashes on my forehead tonight for the first time in my life. I am looking forward to my first Ash Wednesday service. I have observed Lent before, but not in the way I’m anticipating this year. I will share more about this soon, but for today, I wanted to share this wonderful quote with you:
“Lent begins with this realization. That we are people in exile. That we are wandering far from our true home. And thus, the beginning of repentance isn’t merely the terror one finds in wandering in a strange land; the beginning of repentance is homesickness. Lent teaches us to admit to how often we have settled down in the land of our exile as though it were our true home; attempting to still the yearning the Spirit has created by throwing at it physical or psychological pleasure, and how it never works.”
~Will Weedon
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I came out of a tradition like this so am pleased to be free of it as it did not *speak to my condition*, as the old Quakers used to say. We travel a very different path, which is both older than the liturgical tradition & newer. I don’t know that it is better, just the one we are called to travel. xxxx
Where I am attending now speaks to my condition so deeply and wonderfully and truthfully, but I understand many liturgical churches do not. I feel blessed to have been called to this one, and I know it is a calling, which has surprised me. I hope to be able to chat with you about it someday. 🙂 I think of you almost daily, dear Ganeida…. xoxo
I usually have ashes every Ash Wednesday but not this year as I was on the road. I receive with mixed feelings as I usually don’t like to stand out and there’s no avoiding it when you have a mark on your forehead but at the same time it reminds me that it is good to stand out in the world showing people yes I believe. It reminds me a friend who went to Washington DC with her teen grandchildren. At each restaurant they said a prayer of thanks before eating. Other diners noticed.
I always love seeing others pray in restaurants, although I don’t think I’ve seen it as much lately as I used to. May we all be willing to say to the world (in whatever way He leads us) that yes, we believe. God bless your week, Nancy. xoxo