Ash Wednesday
As the deer pants for flowing streams, my soul thirsts for you, O God.
I was going to write another litany of ashes and holy consuming fire (roar), of withered husks tossed into flames (roar), of crucifixion of dead men (roar). But, there is the fire which is life-giving, that prepares the forest for new and abundant growth, and there is the fire that burns so hot and so long it sterilizes the very soil until nothing will grow for years to come. The abundant fires of my bitterness have scarcely left a husk of a man, and I have crucified myself enough for multiple lifetimes. I have even killed God only to find once again that a life without God is empty, meaningless, and devoid of value or hope. So, enough with the roaring and grandstanding. The world has been lit enough with the burning corpses of men.
Gentle us, Holy One, into an unclenched moment.
I was going to write another litany of ashes and holy consuming fire (roar), of withered husks tossed into flames (roar), of crucifixion of dead men (roar). But, there is the fire which is life-giving, that prepares the forest for new and abundant growth, and there is the fire that burns so hot and so long it sterilizes the very soil until nothing will grow for years to come. The abundant fires of my bitterness have scarcely left a husk of a man, and I have crucified myself enough for multiple lifetimes. I have even killed God only to find once again that a life without God is empty, meaningless, and devoid of value or hope. So, enough with the roaring and grandstanding. The world has been lit enough with the burning corpses of men.
Gentle us, Holy One, into an unclenched moment.