Ash Wednesday

Well,I had to work late on Wednesday, so I missed my church’s Ash Wednesday service. I was a little dissapointed, but Denise and the girls got to go. Our church participates in the historical practice of placing ashes on the forehead. That would have been interesting – I’ve never had the chance of doing that before.

While most people associate the placing of ashes on the forehead as a Roman Catholic Church (RCC) practice, this is not entirely true. Other denominations have historically done this, but have unfortunately moved away from it. Although this is a whole subject by itself, most Protestant churches have stopped many of the practices that the RCC does because they do not want to be associated with the RCC. While it is true that the RCC was a corrupt church, and many of their beliefs and practices should not be held in the Protestant church, unfortunately, all the good stuff was thrown out as well – the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. The placing of ashes on the forehead is a good way to make the reality of our sin and the sorrow of our Lord’s crucifixition even more real to us.

The observance of Ash Wednesday goes back to the early church. Ash Wednesday, as I noted in a previous blog, is the first day of Lent. Lent is a time of sorrow, remorse, and repentance. We remember and grieve over our sins in anticipation of the perfect Lamb that was sacrificed for these sins. In biblical times, wood fires were heavily relied on for cooking and heating. It required a lot of attention to keep the home free from ashes. If the members of the house were preoccupied with something serious – say the death of a family member – the ashes would settle on them. This is how ashes became associated with sorrow, and this is why Christians place ashes on their foreheads for Ash Wednesday.

Many churches only celebrate the “happy” Christian holidays – like Christmas and Easter. While these are important, it is also important to remember the sad events as well. It is good to join Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, watching and praying on Maundy Thursday. It is good to weep at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. And it is good to join Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days of Lent. Of course, none of these things are required Christian observances – you’re not a bad Christian if you don’t place ashes on your forehead. But I do think that we have placed a wide chasm between the spiritual realities of God and the physical realities of God, when there is no designed separation. We need to physically and spiritually grieve, and we need to physically and spiritually rejoice. After all, when Jesus broke the bread, He didn’t say, “This is like my body, take and eat.”

Lost again….

Well, what did ya’ll think of this week’s episode? I enjoyed the “real time” events, but I was a little dissapointed by the back story. The revelation of the meaning of Jack’s tatoos was nothing special…. at least not yet. I did like the other revelation, though….. that “The Others” live on the same island!

BTW, in my last post, I mentioned that I thought the young lady’s mother was the crazy French woman… it appears I was right, and that it was revealed last season… the real revelation was that Ben was her father. 

I really dug the new character this past week – the Sheriff. She’s pretty hardcore.

Fat Tuesday

So today was Fat Tuesday. Just in case I wasn’t sure of this, all the bars on the way to church tonight were unusually packed… at least for a Tuesday. Ironically enough, though, I was on my way to church to celebrate Fat Tuesday as well. In our culture, Fat Tuesday is widely known as a huge party day – Marti Gras – when people go bar hopping, get loaded, and make fools of themselves… usually for beads.  But what exactly is the origin of this day?

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. When Jesus was preparing for His ministry, he went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days. The church historically remembers this event during the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday. Lent is a solemn period in the church’s calendar – a time of sober reflection, a time to focus on the seriousness of sin in our lives and do something about it. This usually includes fasting from something in order to help you turn to God for His all-sufficient strength. Over the next few days I will post more on the meaning of Lent, and some of the unique practices associated with it, but tonight I want to show the relation between Lent and Fat Tuesday.

Since Lent is historically characterized by fasting, Fat Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday, as the church calls it) was a day of feasting… gearing up for Lent. As a church function, it was designed to be a celebration – the last day of Epiphany (when the church celebrates the revelation of Christ to the world, especially His ascension). It was not a gluttonus day, but it was a feast. One of the traditions was that the church would gather together on Tuesday night and have a pancake dinner – I’m not quite sure how that started, but I like it!

Unfortunately, like many other Christian celebrations, it has been perverted by the pagan culture and turned into Fat Tuesday. I have no problem with the name “Fat Tuesday” (Carnival is another name that is used), nor with the party spirit of the holiday. The perversion comes in the legalistic mindset behind the celebration. Because Lent was seen as a burden or chore that had to be done, Shrove Tuesday was the last chance to “enjoy life for a while.” Historically, abstaining from meat and wine was the norm during Lent, so Fat Tuesday became a day for pigging out on meat and getting drunk on wine. Of course, today, many people who “celebrate” Fat Tuesday do not celebrate Lent.

Fat Tuesday  – along with holidays such as Halloween – are historically Christian celebrations… its easy to forget this in today’s culture. Instead of ignoring these holidays, we need to recover them and celebrate them properly – to the glory of God. I know I did my part – I had 5 pancakes.

Lost

I hadn’t thought about posting on Lost, 

until my sister-in-law, Dana, mentioned it. Good idea. I don’t watch much t.v., but I never miss Lost. Anyways, for those of you that follow the show, this Wednesday they will reveal two mysteries. This is probably not one of them, but in the first episode of the new season (two weeks ago), Sawyer and Kate were saved by a young lady who is supposedly Ben’s daughter… but who is her mother? Denise and I think it is the crazy French lady hiding out in the jungle – anyone else think this as well?

 BTW, my favorite character on the show is Locke.  Who are some of your favorites?

#3

I’m sure most of you have heard the news by now, but on Valentine’s Day I found out that Denise is pregnant.

I was extremely happy! It was even more special because my best friend and his wife had just had their first baby hours before. Anyways, #3 is due (we think) sometime in October. Let’s see…. August (Molly), September (Katie), October…. I see a pattern here. Please pray for Denise – she has had good pregnancies so far – hopefully that will continue.

Initial engagement

OK, so here goes….. I’ve been thinking about doing this blog thing for quite awhile now, but I’ve always managed to discourage myself from doing it for various reasons. In fact, I have had an account for a long time – but only so that I may post comments on other people’s blogs. I’m now convinced, though, that the pros outweigh the cons. The overwhelming pro, in my opinion, is that it is an easy way for me to share with everyone what is going on in my family’s lives, since, really, it’s all about the girls. *This reasoning owes a nod to the Odom family* Also, while I have maintained a myspace account for over year – posting pictures and updates of the family – the majority of friends and family do not have a myspace account, so it does them no good.
I also intend to use this blog to share my thoughts on a variety of subjects. This has always been the sticky part for me, because I have visited many blogs that are nothing more than a way for people to vent their frustrations… and, of course, there is not a whole lot of accountablility when it comes to blogging. Also, from time to time, I run across interesting or funny items in the media that I want to share – which, at best, may cause you to laugh or think, or, more likely, cause you to wonder what is wrong with me.
At any rate, since moving to Birmingham, our contact with the majority of our friends and family has become rarer than we would like. Hopefully this blog will remedy that. God Bless and enjoy!