The pancakes and parties of Shrove Tuesday have passed (including our own celebration here at Luther; see the picture below!), and we’ve begun our Lenten journey to the cross.
The Ash Wednesday liturgy reminds us that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. This isn’t intended to shame us, but to remind us of reality. After all, what is ash but the remnant of living things that have died and burned, waiting to be born into something new?
So we are in a season of waiting for our own rebirth, renewal, and restoration, and we put aside our celebration for a time.
It’s not that we’re burying our joy; it’s that we’re planting it like a seed, and being nurtured by God’s embrace through the Word, in our prayers and self-reflection until it blooms again on Easter morning.
We are clay waiting to be formed. We are soil waiting for spring to come. We are ash and dust, and out of our lives and work will come God’s joy.
May this season of Lent be full of God’s promise of new life to come!
Peace,
Robin J. Steinke, President
Luther Seminary