Tag Archives: Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday comes around again

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Ashes line the grate after the great snow storm. Chill strikes down the chimney; a ghost stepping over the grave of last night’s fire. Ashes lift and shiver, settle and sigh, whisper to the warm wood tales of passion; eagerly, … Continue reading →

Posted in Holy Days, poetry, prayer | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ash Wednesday: grace is not in vain

Posted on February 26, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

Lent is a good discipline for me. The soul-searching, the self-denial, the study of God’s grace is something that I need constantly if I am to recognize the enormity, the ridiculous span and spread of God’s mercy.

But constantly is hard to do. Continue reading →

Posted in Holy Days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dust

Posted on September 6, 2019 by Rosalind C Hughes

Between fire and the sky- cold stars trading embers, we are smoke: dust, ash, and air rising and falling

Posted in Holy Days, poetry, prayer | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Remembrance, repentance, and reconciliation

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Rosalind C Hughes

In Lent, we bury [the word of ululating praise] beneath our tongues, yet even in dust and ashes it is our song, tuning in to Christ’s love, our hope, the truth of God’s undying mercy. Continue reading →

Posted in Holy Days, homily, sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hope in the ashes

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is hope in cold ashes. We do not “do” Lent, we do not approach the fast as those who have no hope, or as though who fear the fire. For God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Holy Days, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Penitence

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

After William Wordsworth’s “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” 1800 Recollected in tranquillity, passions burnt beyond their embers. Unguarded breath conjures dust devils, smoke without fire, echoes of disgrace remembered by the ashen light of dawn. Dignified in variegated gray, sifted, judiciously, … Continue reading →

Posted in Holy Days, poetry, prayer | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ashes and coaldust

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Rosalind C Hughes

Of all the symbols that we use in the Christian year, the ashes of Ash Wednesday might be at once the most unambiguous and the most strange. A wise colleague was recently heard to remark on the popularity of “ashes-to-go” … Continue reading →

Posted in sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ash Wednesday

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is, on occasion, a disconnect between our words and our actions. We smile through gritted teeth as we make polite conversation with someone we do not like. We have profound and prolonged conversations about liberty and justice as we … Continue reading →

Posted in homily, sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Burning

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

I’m sitting up tending a pot of palms as they slowly disintegrate into ash. Under the surface red and orange molten lava moves, shifting and sifting through the burnt and unburnt bits and branches, preparing their repentance for their part … Continue reading →

Posted in other words | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Juxtapositions

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Last Wednesday, I told a score of people or more that they were going to die. “You are dust,” I reminded them, “and to dust you will return.” And I marked their faces with ash. In the line was my youngest … Continue reading →

Posted in meditation | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment