Ash Wednesday
Worship with Holy Communion
and Imposition of Ashes
Wednesday, February 18th, at 6:30p
and Imposition of Ashes
Wednesday, February 18th, at 6:30p
We begin our journey in the "White-Out"—a space of sensory fasting where the noise of the world fades. Like sheep in a storm, we stop our frantic movement to listen for the one voice that knows us by name. Today, we acknowledge our shattering and prepare our hearts to be re-formed.
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Distinguish the Shepherd's voice from the noise.
Pablo Neruda
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still
for once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language;
let’s stop for a second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would not look at his hurt hands.
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.
Pablo Neruda is a Chilean poet, who started writings poems at the age of 13. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971.