Posts tagged "Ash Wednesday"
Another Week Ends: Townes Van Zandt, Hyper-Parents and Filial Competence, Jane Austen, Visible Signs (That You Were A Youth Group Kid), Girls, Christian Athletes, Jonah Lehrer Proves Himself, More Ash Wednesday, St. Paul, and Beck
Books / Humor / Identity / Psychology / Social Science / Sports / Theology / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Townes Van Zandt, Hyper-Parents and Filial Competence, Jane Austen, Visible Signs (That You Were A Youth Group Kid), Girls, Christian Athletes, Jonah Lehrer Proves Himself, More Ash Wednesday, St. Paul, and Beck

by WB on Feb 15, 2013 • No Comments

1. Over at Internet Monk, a thoughtful Ash Wednesday article explores singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt’s legacy in relation to the way Americans process death, depression, powerlessness, or other ‘negative’ emotions:

Of course we live in a culture of death — because we are human, and human beings die, and human beings often choose ways that lead to death rather than life. My question is how we deal with this fact.

…We the people will watch violence and death on our TV screens and computer monitors, but we continue to hide our dying ones away in hospitals and nursing homes. We spend the vast…

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God Bless the Insomniacs: Searching for Rest on Ash Wednesday
Church / Death / Religion / Suffering

God Bless the Insomniacs: Searching for Rest on Ash Wednesday

by Mockingbird on Feb 13, 2013 • 5 Comments

Another in a budding tradition of anonymous Ash Wednesday posts:

A few years ago, an unnamed friend of Mockingbird wrote a stunning reflection on Ash Wednesday that struck a chord with me, if for no other reason than the title of the piece included the phrase “Written on the Occasion of a Sleepless Night.” Sleepless nights are such a powerful picture of the human condition: an extreme desire for rest that never seems to arrive, and the effort we spend trying to relax only making it harder to do so. Insomnia makes for a great metaphor for life outside of Eden.

It…

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The Law and Gospel (of Lent) according to Chocolat
Film / Food / Grace in Practice / Religion

The Law and Gospel (of Lent) according to Chocolat

by Matt Schneider on Feb 22, 2012 • 5 Comments

Much like the nation of Greece, the season of Lent is characterized by “austerity measures.” And while such devotion can be beautiful, Lenten observance can also border on piety for piety’s sake, or what we might call works righteousness. Please do not misunderstand me: I enjoy and value the season. Who of us wouldn’t benefit from setting aside time to reflect on the grace and mercy of God (and our need to repent)?

The tension between the need for mercy that defines Lent (in theory) and the works righteousness with which it has all too often become synonymous is the theme…

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A Sermon for Ash Wednesday
Sermons / Theology

A Sermon for Ash Wednesday

by Nick Lannon on Feb 22, 2012 • 4 Comments

“Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:20-21).

Let us pray. Dear God in Heaven, we ask you to join us here, and we trust that you are here with us. May my words be your words, and all of our thoughts, your thoughts. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Today, we gather together for a unique purpose. Unlike any other service in the course of the year, unlike any Bible study, any prayer…

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Mama Liked the Roses (And So Did T.S. Eliot): Deciphering “Burnt Norton” – Part 1
Philosophy / Poetry / Suffering

Mama Liked the Roses (And So Did T.S. Eliot): Deciphering “Burnt Norton” – Part 1

by WB on Jul 5, 2011 • 3 Comments

Eliot’s Four Quartets remain among his most critically acclaimed and notoriously inscrutable works. Although there’s no established consensus on the precise meaning of these poems, they’ve all been viewed as meditations on time, each focusing on a particular aspect of this central reality of human life. Constantly going back to the Quartets and always enjoying them, this summer I’ve taken it upon myself to try and tease out some of the questions and ideas Eliot develops. Feel free to comment with other takes on the poem.

In “Burnt Norton,” Eliot struggles with the contingency of the past: there was a genuinely…

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The Joy of Lent
Poetry / Religion / Suffering / Theology

The Joy of Lent

by Stampdawg on Mar 13, 2011 • 1 Comment

A sweet meditation from Psalm 32 on the huge release that comes from admitting what we are — and why Ash Wednesday is the happiest of days.

Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,whose sin is covered.Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

While I kept silence, my body wasted awaythrough my groaning all day long.For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;my strength was dried up* as by the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,and I did not hide my iniquity;I said, ‘I will confess my…

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Possibly Insane Thoughts on Ash Wednesday (Written on the Occasion of a Sleepless Night)
Church / Philosophy / Religion / Testimony / Theology

Possibly Insane Thoughts on Ash Wednesday (Written on the Occasion of a Sleepless Night)

by Mockingbird on Mar 9, 2011 • 19 Comments

A close friend of Mockingbird contributes the following reflection on the meaning of the day, and I’m sure you’ll agree that it is a welcome and considerably more profound alternative to the (admittedly irresistible) irreverence with which we’ve treated (the “public displays of piety” which characterize) Lent in past years. A touching and personal defense of the season, and today in particular, from an exceptionally sympathetic a point of view:

For those of us who came of age in certain fundamentalist or evangelical Protestant churches, life was a strangely disembodied affair. It is true that various sins of the flesh…

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Poetry

Ash Wednesday With Emily Dickinson

by Ethan Richardson on Mar 9, 2011 • No Comments

Poem 260
I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Dont tell! they’d advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog -
To tell one’s name – the livelong June -
To an admiring Bog!
Hello, Belly Button…
Conferences / Psychology / Theology

Hello, Belly Button…

by Jeff Hual on Feb 17, 2010 • No Comments

It’s been two weeks since the Pensacola Mini-Conference, and Gil Kracke’s excellent break-out session is still very much on my mind. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, do yourself the favor. You won’t be disappointed!

Gil started his thesis from a very old concept, called incurvatus in se, a term that some say originated with Augustine, and which can be defined as a life lived looking “inward” at ourselves rather than looking “outward” to God.

The idea of incurvatus in se is sort of like a form of spina bifida, whereby our backs are curved inward on themselves so…

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Miserable Offenders
Church / Prayer / Religion

Miserable Offenders

by Stampdawg on Feb 17, 2010 • 3 Comments

One of the advantages of having a written and printed service, is that it enables you to see when people’s feelings and thoughts have changed. When people begin to find the words of our service difficult to join in, that is of course a sign that we do not feel about those things exactly as our ancestors. Many people have, as their immediate reaction to that situation the simple remedy — “Well, change the words” — which would be very sensible if you knew that we are right and our ancestors were wrong. It is always at least worth…

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From the Sublime to the Ridiculous: Bible Buffet & Spiritual Warfare
Bible / Children / Humor / Religion

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous: Bible Buffet & Spiritual Warfare

by JDK on Mar 11, 2009 • 8 Comments

From Wikipedia:Bible Buffet is a video game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993 by Wisdom Tree, a company which specialised in Christian-themed video games. . . Despite being called Bible Buffet, the game has no internal technical references to the Bible, Christianity, or religion in general. . . Its game engine was later used in the Wisdom Tree’s Spiritual Warfare. The object of the game is to get rid of the food that tries to kill you. . .The game also includes a quiz section where players answer three True/False questions in order to advance. These questions would…

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Ash Wednesday – Elvis Perkins
Church / Music / Poetry

Ash Wednesday – Elvis Perkins

by David Zahl on Feb 25, 2009 • 2 Comments

We could have easily gone with TS Eliot today. Lord knows we were tempted. Maybe next year. This year, we thought we’d post our favorite Ash Wednesday-themed song, “Ash Wednesday” by Elvis Perkins (Thank you, Trevor). Elvis wrote it in part about the death of his father, Anthony Perkins, of Psycho fame. So it’s very serious and sad but also beautiful, like the day itself. Enjoy:

The tents go up as I go downDown to the flats and into the soundThe closer I get to the cityThe further I am from memoryIn the green grass looking upFor the words of the…

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