This past Sunday we heard the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. Even though Jesus had been sharing with
his disciples what he was sent to do, the mountaintop experience with Peter, James and John
inaugurated and solidified his mission. As Christ’s body, the church, we celebrate the Transfiguration as
the last Sunday before Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday. The season of Lent invites us into a deeper
place of exploring our relationship with God and with each other. Part of Christ’s transfiguration we
model by choosing to be better partners with Christ in transforming this world.
Today is Ash Wednesday, marked by solemn services and the imposition of the ashes on foreheads. This
day in the life of our faith journey has been a part of my own for many decades. But it was during my
time serving as a chaplain intern at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles that I was inaugurated into serving as
the one providing the imposition of the ashes onto others (making the mark of the cross on the
forehead as a sign and seal of God’s love and a reminder of our own mortality).
It is an odd thing to offer the reminder of one’s mortality to a child or teen facing their own final time
due to a fatal disease. One young girl with Cystic Fibrosis asked me to come give her the ashes, and then
we talked about what it means. I invited a father to give his infant son the sign of the cross with the
ashes in the ICU as the infant was passing away. The girl’s gentle wisdom holding the space for both of
us and the father’s tears full of love modeled for me the hope we have in this season of Lent. That
amidst the chaos there is hope.
It is an honor and yes, a privilege, to be part of a tradition that holds space for both our mortality and
our hope in the resurrection, all in one season – tears of love and words of wisdom and comfort.
Remember that you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.
By the cross and passion of our Savior,
bring us with all your saints
to the joy of Christ’s resurrection.
Pastor Brian S. Symonds
