[Propertalk] Ash Wednesday

[robertpmorrison at charter.net]

Having seen "Rango" on Friday afternoon, here's what I wrote for 
Wednesday. I think I write this on Friday night - it's a little bit of a 
blur 8 - )


THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY          ASH WEDNESDAY
JOEL 2:1-2, 12-17 or ISAIAH 58:1-12	                      9th MARCH, 
2011
2 CORINTHIANS 5:20b – 6:10	                                  PSALM 
51:1-7
MATTHEW 6:1-6, 16-21

	“Welcome to Dirt”

	Have you been there yet?

In case you’re not tracking, what I’m talking about is the opening of a 
movie which began its run in theatres around the country last Friday. 1 
There are all sorts of great lines: like, “Strangers don’t last long 
around here”; “Here in the desert, there have been millions of years to 
allow for evolution. Not for lizards, though.”

Actually, Rango is a chameleon, but that’s a common mistake.

	According to one trustworthy review, 2 the movie “may not be as 
charming as it thinks it is – and it certainly isn't for kids – but 
Rango is a smart, giddily creative burst of beautifully animated 
entertainment.”

The snappy synopsis says of the movie, “A household pet goes on an 
adventure to discover its true self.” But things can seldom be contained 
within a few words.

What appealed to me, and began to form a meld in my mind, was the way in 
which the premise of the movie, and the way it played out, seemed to 
match so much of what we’re supposed to be about as disciples of Jesus – 
especially as we enter in the Holy Season of Lent.

Whatever it is we do today, it’s an affirmation of what we took on, what 
became part of us, at our baptism and our confirmation. In one of any 
number of ways, each of us has had contact with Jesus. In one way or 
another, each of us have responded to Jesus. Now we come to a point in 
time at which we have to take some sort of an inventory. What have we 
done for Jesus? How have we tried to live out the promises we’ve made – 
to Jesus and to Jesus’ friends?

Today we’re given a gift from God, a sort of a freeze-frame, in which 
either we get to stand still or else we move slowly, perhaps as if in a 
dream or a film sequence. Either way, we’re given an opportunity to look 
around to see with whom we interact and where we do it. Today, then, is 
just one time in our lives when we discover that “The path to knowledge 
(knowledge of Jesus, knowledge of love, knowledge of what is just and 
merciful) is fraught with consequences.” 3

 From the point we were first welcomed into the family of forgiven, 
renewed through our splashing with water, we were invited to consider 
what paths we took in life – with whom we should associate; with whom we 
should share our gifts and talents. Sometimes this has been easy. 
Sometimes the path has been obvious – not that the decisions to take a 
certain path has necessarily been followed, but we’ve been shown the 
way, nevertheless.

At other times, though, things have NOT been clear. We’ve had to 
struggle to determine where we should be; or what we should do. Life 
ISN’T always easy – even after Baptism. Nevertheless we find that we 
have to “Go into the desert alone - we all have our journeys to make.”
One way or another “we ALL have our journeys to make.” And when life IS 
like a desert, when we don’t see many landmarks that are familiar; when 
we seem alone; when we may become disoriented; it CAN be extremely 
difficult for us to hold on to the memory of what it felt like to be 
welcomed by the water.

We ARE, after all, people of the water. Deserts make us edgy and 
uncomfortable, and can make us react out of character. We’re not of the 
desert. “Desert animals have had millions of years to adapt,” (remarked 
the commentators on Rango the chameleon, to evolve) “but the lizard – 
he’s going to die.” That’s why we have to “follow the water”, that’s 
where we’ll find the power to enable us to fulfil God’s hope for us. “As 
long as we have water we have hope.”

No one has ever said that life would be easy. Jesus said, in fact, that 
those who listened to Him and followed Him would be misunderstood, have 
a life with challenges – even experience doubt and suffering. “It IS a 
hard life here. (Jesus’) people make it because they believe tomorrow 
will be better than today.”

	People down through the ages have discovered that thinking about what 
the Water of Baptism tells us, does for us; seeking meaning in baptismal 
Water and all water; this gives us the means and the opportunity to find 
ways to get across the deserts in which we find ourselves.

None of us WANTS to live in a desert, separated from the more obvious 
signs of God’s grace and love. But ALL of us know that we DO spend some 
time there – with questions, and with tiredness, and with loneliness. 
All of us spend time in Dirt – yet even there we have hope. Dirt – 
pieces that make us one with the earth and all of creation; or, in the 
language of today’s ceremony, dust; whichever word we use, “we are 
BELOVED Dust not just any old dust, but living and self-conscious dust 
and spirited dust with self-transcendence.”  4

These are words from a litany for the celebration which honours St. 
Francis. The prayer goes on to ask that God, “Teach us to better 
understand our humanness as dust – assembled from material elements in 
the universe.”

We can begin to find our humanness, then, our relationship with God, and 
with all of creation if we hold dust and water together in our minds. I 
say minds, because actually, if ash and water are mixed, it becomes lye 
– if applied to human skin, it will burn. If ash is mixed with oil, 
however, it becomes a sign of healing, of renewal.

You and I are invited to receive the dust, the ash. In this, we’re 
welcomed to Dirt, a sign of our unity with the whole universe. Then 
we’re sent out to reflect once again on the richness of water in our 
lives – and to share this with God’s people in the world.

So – “Welcome to Dirt”!

NOTES:

1	Check out the trailer http://www.rangomovie.com/

2	It got an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes reviews 
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rango-2011/

3	Unless otherwise specified, the quotes are all from the film “Rango”.

4	The Franciscan Times, Fall 2010 issue, page 18 (emphasis added).  The 
readings are adapted from Jeanie Graustein's 2009 sermon prepared for 
Earth Ministry' St. Francis Sermon Contest and adapted from Jeanie 
Graustein’s 2009 sermon prepared for Earth Ministry's St. Francis Sermon 
Contest and from Joyce Wilding’s 2008 sermon.. Page 18. 
http://www.tssf.org/2010%20Fall%20Franciscan%20Times.pdf

Robert P Morrison
Interim Vicar
The Episcopal Church of St Alban
PO Box 1556
Albany OR  97321   541-921-1076 (cell)
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