Ash Wednesday

What do a pumpkin, a mouse and an old apron have to do with Ash Wednesday?

Well, before we answer that question, let’s go back a little and remember something from our childhood.  In the story of Cinderella, you might recall that a pumpkin is transformed into an incredible carriage.  A few mice are transformed into magnificent horses.  An old apron is transformed into a beautiful evening gown.  These objects remind us that the story of Cinderella is a story about transformation.  The life of the young Cinderella (literally the one who “sits in the cinders/ashes”) is miraculously changed, and she goes on to live happily ever after.

And here we get to the connection with Ash Wednesday – it’s about transformation!  As we mark ourselves with ashes (or “sit in the ashes” you might say) we are reminded that our lives are to be transformed into something new.  They remind us of our need for repentance, our need to reorient our lives, our need for God.  If we take this all seriously, then we can begin to turn ever more far away from sin, to believe ever more fully in the Gospel, and to fall ever more deeply in love with God.  Like the pumpkin, the mouse and the old apron our lives become transformed into something incredible, magnificent and beautiful because we begin to return to the Lord with our whole heart.

This is the journey we are invited to undertake on Ash Wednesday and to continue throughout all of Lent.  It is a journey of transformation.  Not into a carriage or a horse or an evening gown.  But into a child of God who is graced by God, loved by God and fully alive in God.

In the story of Cinderella, it is joyfully announced that “the prince is giving a ball!” and all the townspeople (Cinderella included) want to attend the ball.  Believe it or not, it’s the same with us.  Our Prince (the Prince of Peace) is giving a ball (or really a heavenly banquet to be more exact.)  As we cover ourselves in ashes today, let it be a sign of our desire to be transformed by God’s help and grace into a new creation at Easter so that some day we might find ourselves with the Prince in that great heavenly ball – and live with him there happily ever after.

Blessings on your Lent!