tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105371462621592511.post7736532913312508789..comments2023-09-24T15:01:46.609-04:00Comments on Fiat Lux: Reflections on "Ashes-To-Go"The Rev. James Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484680361356703398noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105371462621592511.post-8423122858771561932014-03-08T13:07:57.130-05:002014-03-08T13:07:57.130-05:00Thank you for this encouraging post, James. It is ...Thank you for this encouraging post, James. It is indeed a blessing to remind ourselves that we are mortal, that we are not in control - no matter what needs it would seem to serve to imagine that we are, and that both these truths are well understood as they sit atop the perfect loveliness of the ground of being which sustains us all - whether we like it or want it.<br /> I did not know until reading your post that 'ashes to go' has recently become a 'movement'. I do know that Sara Miles of St. Gregory of Nyssa Church began this practice several years ago in the San Francisco Mission neighborhood, and that it has inspired many here to join her. My fear about street corner dirt smudges becoming fashionable on Ash Wednesday is that the Church will once again lock the practice up only to prescribe it in small doses, and only when administered by an approved sacred pharmacist.<br /> For those liberals wringing their hands about this practice's impact in a pluralistic society, I wish to add that imposing ashes on the forehead of one who comes to us freely is not at all akin bullhorn preacher bullying. Secondly, I wonder if such inane levels of political correctness might have some role in our increasingly empty churches. If we fear speaking our truth publicly, no one will know the blessings of the Way. I am out to convert no one, and I am certain as can be that Sara Miles thinks similarly. I hope to be solely about encountering and acknowledging spiritual need in myself and in others.<br /><br />Again, James, I thank you for sharing with us all the blessings you and those who came to you experienced this past Wednesday. We all yearn for the naked Truth .Will Hockerhttps://www.facebook.com/howillianoreply@blogger.com