Ash Wednesday

I wanted to write a blog about Ash Wednesday, but don't have time. So I ripped this site off a friend's Facebook note:

The beginning of the season of the Lent.

What do Christians Celebrate on Ash Wednesday?

In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days prior to Easter (Sundays are not included in the count).
Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. During some Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers.

Not all Christian churches observe Ash Wednesday or Lent. They are mostly observed by the Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Anglican denominations, and also by Roman Catholics.

Eastern Orthodox churches observe Lent or Great Lent, during the 6 weeks or 40 days preceding Palm Sunday with fasting continuing during the Holy Week of Easter. Lent for Eastern Orthodox churches begins on Monday and Ash Wednesday is not observed.

The Bible does not mention Ash Wednesday or the custom of Lent, however, the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes is found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8, Daniel 9:3, and more.

What is the meaning and purpose of Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday is a wake-up call. Ash Wednesday hits us squarely between the eyes, forcing us to face mortality and sinfulness. We hear Scripture readings that are urgent and vivid. We have black ashes rubbed into our foreheads. We recite a Litany of Penitence that takes our breath away, or should. It is a tough day, but take heart! This is one religious day that won.t fall into the clutches of retailers. There aren't any Hallmark cards celebrating sin and death; no shop windows are decked out with sackcloth and ashes. (Italics mine. I love the idea, though. "Forever 21 - Burlap now in stock for Spring")

On Ash Wednesday we come to church to kneel, to pray, and to ask God's forgiveness, surrounded by other sinners. Human sin is universal; we all do it, not only Christians. But our church tradition sets aside Ash Wednesday as a particular day to address sin and death. We do this mindful that "God hates nothing God has made and forgives the sins of all who are penitent." We are ALL sinners, no better and no worse than our brothers and sisters. This is not a day to compete ("my sins are worse than yours are"), but to confess..

Ash Wednesday is the gateway to Lent. We have forty precious days to open ourselves up most particularly to God, to examine ourselves in the presence of one who created us, knows us, and loves us. We have forty days to face ourselves and learn to not be afraid of our sinfulness. We are dust, and to dust we shall return, but with God's grace we can learn to live this life more fully, embracing our sinfulness, allowing God to transform us.

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There are plenty of people who give things up for Lent. Chocolate, alcohol, extortion, and more. I think I'm going to add a morning time in the Scriptures to my schedule, since I can't think of anything off-hand that I can take out. Except... my blog...

What are you doing for Lent?

What I've Been Reading

Check out a recent post by Adam Graber over at Watching Gravity. Adam's writings are often insightful, and most always more thought out and put together than anything I have to say.

But you don't have to take my word for it.

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Poem

I thought I had to take a poo

I thought I had to take a poo
It turned out that it wasn't true
I closed the door and turned and sat
I sighed. I stood. And... oops!
I shat.

Not based on a true story.

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The Earliest Known Christian Hymn, by way of basketball

Last night I went to Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights to watch my friend Matt Buren play basketball against my alma mater, Judson College. The good news is that Matt scored some points. The other good news, for some, is that Judson won.

At the game I saw a few Judsonites I had known, including President Jerry Cain. It's funny how a few years apart just changes everything, because while at the game I barely felt a part of Judson. I guess that's a good thing. It means that part of life has passed. But I still missed it.

Speaking of things long gone, here's a link to some ancient music re-creations. The one of note is the earliest Christian hymn that we have record of, which has been simply titled the "Ancient Christian Hymn to the Holy Trinity." For you familiar with Northern Seminary (my school), and know Dr. Cosgrove, this is the hymn he worked on studying from the papyrus of Oxyrynchus, which dates to the 3rd century. He's got a book he's almost done with on this. Crazy.

Here's a translation of what's being sung, in English paraphrase (I hope I'm not breaking any intellectual copyright here...):

Let silence fall, let stars withhold their light
Let them close their shining eyes
Let all the roaring rivers and the winds die down
And as we lift up our hymn to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Let all the powers add their voices and sing,
"Amen, Amen, strength and praise forever and glory to God
Who alone gives all good things.
Amen, amen."

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Guest Fail #1

Here's some good fail from my good friend and old roommate Andy. Below is my favorite picture of him.





I had a major failure in the last week. I have often been thinking in the last few weeks about relational ministry and how important it is to intentionally build our lives into those of our friends, families, and neighbors. I live in an apartment complex, and a few months ago a new tenant moved into the apartment below us. Our apartment building is smoke free, but we find that many of the tenants smoke outside. For the last months, cigarette smoke has been flooding into our apartment, consuming our pleasant "Oatmeal cookie" and "Birthday Cake" candles. Jamie and I hosted a small party for the SuperBowl, and about halfway through came the smoke. I stormed out of the apartment, and caught this new tenant walking the halls and smoking.

Now, my failure in this situation is actually just the climactic failure: I should have been building a relationship with this gentleman long before the incident; I hadn't. And in the heat of my frustration/anger, I had no concern for this man's soul or our relationship, but only for the pleasantries of our guests.

I have been thinking, writing, and preaching against exactly what I had done. Moral failures of hypocrisy damage severely the message of Christ and his Church. I have repented, and I am seeking to build a relationship with this man.

Rules For Valentine's Day

I think it's too soon to be a tradition, but I think the yearly DV post may have to happen.

This year:

The Rules for Valentine's Day


Rules for Couples

1. No making out in public.
This should go without saying, but even with saying, it's going to happen. No one wants to see it, and it's not just the single people complaining. It's everyone. Just don't do it.

2. Have fun.
DV should be fun. Try to ignore all the Singles Awareness Day (SAD) people, and enjoy the fact that you have someone to spend the day with. Just don't make out in public.

3. If you go out to eat (a) pay attention and (b) tip well.
Think of how crappy it is to serve 164 people in one night who just ogle at each other, completely ignoring the server. When your server asks a question, respond kindly. When the meal is over, tip them well. They don't have the good fortune of being out with their sweetheart, so show them some freakin' sympathy. Oh, and don't make out at the table. That's gross.

Rules for Singles

1. No complaining about DV
Honestly, does it need to happen? So you don't have someone to oggle at while you ignore the server, big deal. There are tons of other single people out there in the same situation, and if you want to bring down the mood for the whole world, then maybe there's a reason you're single.
2. Have fun.
If you're going to have a SAD party, don't serve haterade. Make it fun! Have a themed party. Or just be ridiculous. Bust out those Halloween costumes you worked on for a month just to wear for 6 hours. Get together with friends and watch a good singles movie like Hitch. Have a good time for goodness sakes!

3. No hooking up.
Okay, so you're a bunch of singles who have been watching people make out for most of the day and now you're feeling lonely and want to be with someone. Remember, every year there is a February 15, and whatever you did the day before still actually happened.


Rules for Long-Distance Couples

1. Don't spend it alone.
Being away from your other sucks. There's no way around that, especially on a day that celebrates romantic togetherness. So, don't spend it alone.

2. Have fun.
Go hang with your single friends. Then when they break their rule #1 you can think that about your special someone and how glad you are to have found them.

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Fail #2 - A Lesson in Humility

When I'm not going to class or working at a restaurant, I work with Living Hope in Palos Heights, a 6-month old church plant.

I have two basic functions at LH, college pastor and assistant worship leader (not a real title, but a function). The latter role consists of consulting with the pastor, helping select songs, creating a service flow, leading the band, and leading all of this during service.* These are all things I did at Judson as a worship arts major, so I didn't think there would be any problem transferring these skills to LH.

I was wrong.

Over the past few days I was working on the order for this coming Sunday. This is the first time I've done this at LH, and the first time I've tried it alone in a while. Calling Elissa, the other assistant worship leader, I tried to tell her what I had so far. She helped me think through things, but I was still hitting walls. We decided it'd be fine.

At band practice that night, we, nay, I had no service order ready. Then when the band was there, we/I didn't really have a tight rein on the rehearsal. So by the end, it seemed like the whole experience just didn't go that well. I had tried to do it all, but really did nothing well.

*sigh* I thought the process would be much easier. I thought there would be no problem from beginning to end. And, I thought that if things got out of control, Pastor would jump in and bail us out. Well, it was difficult, there were problems, and he respectfully let us fall on our faces.

It was awesome.

I was talking to Elissa and Mary Beth afterwards and shared that it was a really humbling experience. I really couldn't do what I thought I could do, at least not on command. And it was even worse because I was allowed to fall.

But I did learn from it. I learned how much work Pastor does each week just on the service. I learned that it is a difficult process. I learned that I need to step up my game. I learned that I need to exhibit more confidence, and before that I may need to gain confidence. I learned a lot.

Anyone else have any fails lately? I would like to have guest bloggers for the fail series. It'll be healthy.


*Of course, this couldn't be done without Elissa's help. Had to put that out there.

Messages at the Library: A Real Text Twist

Whilst perusing the online catalog at the library, I found a little button on the site. It said, "Text this call number to your phone!"

Apparently there is a shortage of those little stubby pencils and outdated cataloging cards, because I didn't have any nearby. Thankfully, this newest technological advance allowed me to send call number BS2575.2.k56 directly to my phone! It also told me the book was already checked out. Lame, but still awesome.

It's been about a month since I contracted my latest strain of WTD that's been going around. I then compounded that with vocal strain, and between the two I haven't been able to sing much for about 5 weeks. It's kinda depressing. As soon as it's all better I'm gonna find an open mike somewhere. It's just too much.

I've found that the last month or two have found me with little to write about. I think it's because life has gotten into the all-too-familiar routine of eat, sleep, work, school, church. Then again, if I look hard enough, I'm sure there's a story somewhere...

Last Saturday some friends and I went out to celebrate Krista's birthday, celebrating under the monogram "Happy Birthday Krista" at both celebratory locales. For story's sake, the night began at Applebee's in Crestwood. I haven't been to an Applebee's since I visited Matt down in Champagne/Urbana a few months ago. That was a decent experience. This one was too, but, well, here's the thing - as a server, I just can't sit an naively enjoy the restaurant experience like I used-to-could. (I have no idea how to spell that. It's "YOO-sta-kood".) So, here's the timeline.

0 min - put party of 9 ("Happy Birthday Krista") on list
10 min - get table, er, big booth (that was pretty awesome on a Saturday night.)
30 min - get drinks. yeah, 20 minutes for drinks!

And the rest really isn't that interesting. It's just that, well, 20 minutes for drinks? Good ness. I would be written up for that, and probably lose my shift the next week. I think the server tried to make it up by giving Krista's sister a free drink. (He was totally hitting on her. She was totally not interested.) I think he should've gotten her one of the Chocolate Mousse Mini-Shooters for dessert. But hey, that's just me.

Now that you've gotten all the interesting stuff out of me, I'll be back after I do something with my life, though at the rate I'm going we may not be using the internet anymore by then because it'll be too outdated.

Who's got Valentine's Day plans?

5 Days

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but February is 5 days deep.

Already.

That means I need to drop off the rent check. Not mine; mine's paid. Just the roomie's.

I digress.

Hm, I guess I didn't digress at all. I was never going anywhere.

I progress.

This is a fail of a post. Fail #2!

Oh wait, I had a fail #2, almost. If that situation gets tightly packaged, I'll write about it. Until then...

The author of this blog would like to apologize for the nonsensical ramblings contained here-in.