Originally Posted by Audra Anders on 2/12/2013
I’m not Catholic and in my hometown Methodist church in Alabama I don’t remember us practicing this Ash Wednesday ritual of smudging our foreheads. Dunwoody Methodist Church definitely participates and I’m normally walking around on Ash Wednesday with a black cross on my head! You are likely to see Christians today with this smudge on their forehead and I thought you’d want to understand in case you didn’t know….
First, it’s not a smudge. It’s supposed to be a cross drawn with ash. However, some of the people administering the ashes are a little better artists than others. Either way, it gets the job done. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent which is preparation for Easter.
Here’s an excerpt of what DUMC’s Senior Minister had to say about Ash Wednesday in a letter to our congregation last year: “Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, and a very special day for Christians. It is a day set aside for us to be honest with self and with God. Despite our best efforts, we don’t fully live up to the life Christ would have us live. Ash Wednesday is set aside for us to repent of where we have been and restate our belief in the Gospel.
In most Christian churches as in ours, we will receive ashes on our forehead as a sign of our repentance. The ashes are made by burning the Palm Branches from the year before. The ashes are reminders of two truths. First, the high and holy moments of life such as the entrance Jesus made into Jerusalem, can turn out not to be what was expected. Instead of taking the city by “storm,” Jesus was tried and crucified. The other truth is from the journey in our faith that starts with the ashes, we will end with flames of Pentecost. Opposite of the usual, flame to ashes, this is ashes to flame. “
So if you see someone walking humbly with a black cross/smudge on their forehead today you’ll think Aha! I know what that is!
