The Paradox of Ash Wednesday
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Tonight, for the first time, I had the opportunity to impose ashes upon the foreheads of some friends who gathered for the church’s Ash Wednesday service.
Simply put, I wasn’t quite prepared how it would affect me to say over and over “You are dust, and to dust you will return. But in Jesus Christ, you have eternal life.”
You are dust, and to dust you will return. But in Jesus Christ, you have eternal life.
It’s a beautiful paradox. Like Peter Rollins’ How (Not) to Speak of God. Or John Caputo’s The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida.
Or the Gospel.
