Children at an AshWednesday Service in Dubuque, Iowa
Last evening 50 people showed up for our service to mark the beginning of Lent. To my surprise seven of them were children. I brought them to the front as I would for a Sunday children's time and showed them the battered metal bowl I use for burning the palms, and the oil which is mixed with the ashes to create the messy paste.
One four-year-old declared firmly and loudly that he wasn't going to have the ashes put on his forehead. Fair enough. No one is required to do this and no matter what our age, we can feel a little uncomfortable with the new and unknown.
Later in the service people filed forward for the imposition of ashes and there he was. Seeing others stepping to the front had convinced him to join them. At his turn he looked up at me and said one word -- please.
In some respects his request became the essence of worship.
Please God, look beyond our messiness and wrong-doing.
Please allow us to feel your love burning through our sadness or self-loathing.
Please Christ, create in us a clean heart and restore us to a right relationship.
When I arrived home from church and explained, in the dark (she was in bed) to my daughter about the cross on my forehead made out of ashes, she asked if it was a tatoo. When I explained what it was I used the words David used with the children. It made it so much easier to explain when I had simple terms. Sometimes understanding complex ideas are best understood when seen by our children in simple terms. Thank you God for our children!!
ReplyDelete