Ash Wednesday: has it been a while?

Let's see...  I guess it's been a while
since I went to church on Ash Wednesday
to get ashes.

How long's it been?
Yup - it's been a while...

Do I remember when or why I stopped getting ashes?
or stopped going to church in general?

Will I go this year?
Why should I go this year?
Why go any year?
Why ashes?

Getting ashes doesn't mean I'm holy.
As a matter of fact,
getting ashes means I'm not holy.

Ashes are for sinners,
for people like me who make mistakes,
sometimes little ones, sometimes big ones.

Ashes are for people who screw up,
people who forget some important things,
people who let things slide.

Ashes are for people who sometimes hurt other people,
who even hurt the people they love.

Ashes are for imperfect, broken people,
for people who let things get out of control,
for people sometimes do the wrong thing
even when they know what the right thing is.

Ashes are for people who take too many short cuts,
for people who don't always tell the truth,
for people who cheat sometimes,
for people who keep silent when they ought to speak up.

Ashes are for people like me...

Getting ashes won't turn all that around overnight
but it could be taking a step, even just one step,
in a new direction,
on the path I want to follow
but somehow seem to lose.

Getting ashes this Wednesday
just might be the beginning
of mending my relationship with God.

Getting ashes this Wednesday might help me
look at some things in my mind, my heart, in my life
that need looking at, that need attention,
that need reconciling and healing...

Getting ashes this Wednesday might feel kinda strange
and I might be a little embarrassed
when others see my smudged forehead
and if they ask me why I did it...

And I could answer that I did it because I've been thinking
about making some changes in my life
and I thought this might be a way, a place to start...

Me in church?  Me getting ashes?
I might feel a little strange myself!
But I'll bet it would be good to give it a try, give it a chance -
good to give God and me a new chance, a new beginning,
to get some things right between us...

In fact, sometimes I think, I wonder,
sometimes it seems
that maybe God is trying to get my attention,
trying to help me make things right...

It's been a while, that's for sure,
but I'm going to church this Wednesday
to say a prayer, to get ashes
and to take the first step in a new direction...

So Lord, I need you to help me make some changes
because without your help
I have a pretty good record of screwing things up.

So give me a nudge, a shove, a kick in the butt
or whatever it takes
for me to take that first step this Wednesday,
this Ash Wednesday...


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