Ash Wednesday

I believe strongly in symbolism. I think symbols can be powerful in ways that our human brains can't fathom. They touch and change us at a level beyond our skin and bones and DNA. They stand for things and open us to ideas that we couldn't understand any other way. A symbol can move us to acts of heroism and sacrifice (the American flag), or fill us with disgust and sadness (the Nazi swastika). The Catholic Church has always been steeped in symbolism. Sometimes I think Martin Luther threw the baby out with the bath water. Worship became more "user-friendly" so that it wasn't only the priests who understood what was going on, but much of the beauty and majesty and poetry got lost in the process. That's why I like it that over the years the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) has incorporated some traditional Catholic practices in their worship, i.e. the sign of the cross and the putting on of ashes on Ash Wednesday, to name a few. It may seem like histrionics to some, but to me participating in these simple symbolic rituals with the community of believers gets in my bones and makes me feel changed from the inside out. It feels eternal.