shackled: Ash Wednesday

Know those moments when you are hit by the immensity of an experience that is much deeper than you realize?

I had one tonight in our BSM Ash Wednesday Service.  It happened in the freakin' PRELUDE even!



I was assisting in leading music tonight in this special Ash Wednesday service.  Joining me was a regular BSM musician, Michael, who you see playing the keyboard.  I had told him to play something as people were coming in.  The man playing percussion (confidentiality being kept - will be referred to as "T" for tambourine), is also a regular BSM musician.  He loves the church and loves playing percussion.  Whenever a service is taking place, he is ready to jump in and assist, even when it's not specifically asked for or needed.  Sometimes it fits very nicely, other times it's pretty awkward.  This time it blew me away for some reason.

Part of this reaction was the messyness.  T was having a hard time following Michael's rhythm.  This sounded a little messy.  The sound of the tambourine was also very significant.  It sounded like someone walking with chains around their ankles.  The Ash Wednesday theme is on "captivity," so I found that realization to also be very eerie and moving.  A third reason for my reaction was based in my knowledge of T, someone in captivity to obvious suffering in life, yet set FREE by playing music.

This is Ash Wednesday.

We are held captive by the frailty of life and brokenness of living.  We suffer, we struggle, we die.  Life is ugly and messy.

However, we are MARKED by God.  This is represented in the ashes in the form of a cross.  God holds us and frees us to live faithful lives marked by gifts we have been given.  Recognition of this fact in the face of our captivity is how we can prepare ourselves for Lent.

The traditional practice of giving something up for Lent seems to ignore God's claim on our frail lives.  Lent is not about what we can do to make ourselves more "penitent," but rather, how we can recognize our brokenness in light of God's grace.  Lent should transform our lives and give us purpose.

Our lives are messy, like the sound of the tambourine.  Yet using these gifts that make us alive in Christ are how we can live out the message of Lent.  It doesn't matter how good the sound is, even if it's messy.  All that matters is that we PLAY.

"sing with your head upwith your eyes closed;
not because you love the song,
because you love to sing
because you love to sing"



Let the song of T and Michael be our soundtrack for this season