Last Year’s Palms Are This Year’s Ashes
This week we step into the season of Lent which marks the 40 days prior to Easter. Lent is a journey we go through each year where we are intentional about connecting with God and about recognizing what must die within ourselves so new life can emerge. The Lenten path is not always an easy one, but one that encourages us to let go of our fear, our perfection, and our busyness so that we can be free to grab onto the new life found through following Christ.
On Sunday children, youth, and volunteers gathered together to observe the tradition of Shrove Sunday. We discussed how this is a tradition that stems from the ancient church, where those who observe Lent would often use up all of the yummy and tempting foods that filled their pantries prior to Lent starting on Ash Wednesday. We all filled up on delicious pancakes, sausage and fruits while discussing what it means to fast during Lent as well as other ways in which we could intentionally connect with God during this season.
Following our meal, we went outside where we participated in another ancient church tradition, the burning of the palms. Students learned about how palms were used as a symbol of joy, celebration, and royalty and that these particular palms were used in our Palm Sunday service of worship and celebration last year. We saved these palms all year; and while they stayed green for a day or two, the longer they were removed from their source they dried out, they became brittle, sharp, and abrasive. They died. We discussed that like the palms we too become brittle, sharp, and abrasive when we are disconnected from God. It was a reminder that our soul seeks to be connected to God.
After the ashes of the palms cooled, our confirmation class took up the job of turning them into ashes that will be used for the imposition of ashes tomorrow evening during our Ash Wednesday service. The ashes of these palms become a visible sign that we are entering a time of penitence and are preparing ourselves for Jesus. Confirmands discussed different ways in which they can intentionally connect with God during the coming days and what that might look like in their life.
What does that look like in your life this Lenten season? This past Sunday we heard a message on the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9) where we learned that we can’t live in these mountain top moments with God, but we must eventually come down from the mountain and live our faith out. The way through Lent comprises of “putting aside the works of darkness” and “putting on the works of light.” How will you bring Jesus down from the mountain and connect with him in your every day life this season? Maybe it will be through prayer, study, meditation, fasting, or any other way that connects you to God, whatever way it is, it is an invitation to once again take the Lenten path to following Christ.
