It started with words...

As I am thinking on tomorrow being Ash Wednesday and everything that it encompasses I begin to read through the gospels.  Today looking at Matthew 1, Luke 1, and John 1.  Where everything began.  From the very tree which Jesus was rooted, as I read his family lineage.  To the story of John being brought into the world to prepare the way.  Seeing a skeptical priest and a faithful teenage girl.  These stories are powerful.
Now to John, seeing the parallels between this passage and beginning of the story found in Genesis.  God spoke everything into existence and this time his very word takes on human form in the Godman Jesus.  Things had gone terribly wrong and were in desperate need of fixing.  God shows how he fixes things with his words, this time the fix is Jesus, who not only speaks the words of God He is the Word of God.

Eugene Peterson writes it beautifully when he shares the importance of words:
"Saying "I believe" for instance makes the difference between life and death.  Our words accrue dignity and gravity in conversations with Jesus.  For Jesus doesn't impose salvation as a solution; he narrates salvation into being through leisurely conversation, intimate personal relationships, compassionate responses, passionate prayer, and putting it all together - a sacrificial death.  We don't casually walk away from words like that."

So this Fat Tuesday has not been filled with punchki like I hoped but rather I have been preparing my heart and thoughts on tomorrow.  Thinking through what it means for me to take on the ash mark of the cross.  Why do we do this "ritual"? Why do we continue it?  It must become more than a smudge marking the beginning of giving up chocolate, pop, or meat.  It must be more than that, much like the "advent" season we are waiting for what is coming next.  The next piece of the puzzle that intimately connects us to our Creator.
My hope is found in the complete life of Christ, who guided us on how to be human.  The type of humanity God first created when He said it was very good.  Now bring on the reflections of Lent sprinkled with the celebration Sundays.  It will be an amazing season as God is awakening us in new ways calling us to "prepare the way" as he restores His Kingdom through our lives.