Why the ashes? For a lot of reasons, but for me, this year, this one:Because of death. Death: that thing which I cannot ignore away, try as I might, Looking the other way, but being shaken nonetheless at loss, over and over again:-Mitch Albom’s daughter, Chika-Nightbirde whose song about strength I listened to over andContinueContinue reading “Ash Weds 22”
Tag Archives: Lent
17. Beautiful desert
She told me she watched a special on the desert, Right as Lent started, a group-led activity About barrenness and discomfort. But, she said, she was not struck with dismay or deficit, Rather, She was mesmorized by the beauty of the landscape, The delicacy of the ecosystem, The intricacy of the creation. It changes theContinueContinue reading “17. Beautiful desert”
16. The Lenten desert
I enter Lent cautiously, tentatively. I want to be bravely holy and ambitious, but, I also know that 40 winter days stretch long into the future. “Lent is supposed to be like a desert,” the priest said, at Ash Wednesday mass–where we’re stripped of comfort and utterly reliant on God. I have traveled before. IContinueContinue reading “16. The Lenten desert”
I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON LENT
I have a friend named Chris. We had been talking about what we were going to do for Lent, how we wanted to do a good job and get mad holy and stuff. There was this program you could join through this organization, but it was kind of pricey plus kind of bossy plus wentContinueContinue reading “I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON LENT”
Holy Week. I wish I was better prepared.
Last Sunday was Palm Sunday. By a stroke of hey-my-life-is-full-of-the-unexpected, I ended up attending two Palm Sunday masses, both just outside of Boston. On Palm Sunday, we turn and face the back of the church, and the priest blesses palms (imported, obviously, ain’t no palms this far north) and we read the story of JesusContinueContinue reading “Holy Week. I wish I was better prepared.”
Lent. Desert. Facebook.
I want to get on Facebook. I want to get on really badly. This is what Lent looks like. I’m at work, and I usually click to that page of photos when I’m in need of a quick emotional fix. Someone cusses at me at work. Someone catches me making an honest mistake. Someone saysContinueContinue reading “Lent. Desert. Facebook.”
A tiny poem | Be thou brave
Let us do the things that scare us. Let us not be afraid to fail. Let us attempt the things we have never before tried, the things we do not yet know how to do, the lessons we have far from mastered. Let us extend our hands to those we have never met, Ask theContinueContinue reading “A tiny poem | Be thou brave”
Sewer-steam prayer
I don’t know if this happens in other cities (and, for all of my travels, I don’t remember the phenomenon in other places) but, in Detroit, white smoke-y steam billows from our sewers. When we were kids we made up some elaborate, fictional story about this, and told visiting-kids about dragons in the sewer systems.ContinueContinue reading “Sewer-steam prayer”
Lent prep. Starting with the end in mind.
This guy walked out of mass with me today and he said, “Hey, I’m not sure what I should do for Lent.” Oh, rly. Leeeeent. See, I kind of know what I should do. Here’s the deal: if I just do something fluffy and lame like, “Jesus, reveal your heart to mine, OK, amen,”ContinueContinue reading “Lent prep. Starting with the end in mind.”
Stained with salt
One of the hard things for me is expressing negativity. And it’s not that I don’t experience hard times and dark days, because I do. I just have a hard time saying words that express that, or piecing together the phrases that mean, “so, like, today, I can barely remember what hope feels like,” becauseContinueContinue reading “Stained with salt”
Seashell Nell 