Ashes to go
Upon returning from the Ash Wednesday service with ashes still on my forehead, I read an article about an Episcopalian priest in the USA who five years ago stood at a busy intersection in St. Louis and smudged the sign of the cross on the foreheads of passerbys. The concept has spread across 12 states and a resource guide written. The thinking is that we can't just wait for people to come to us. We have to meet them where they actually are. The priest reflects that 'it's fulfilling a spiritual need in a pragmatic way. It shows flexibility where often inflexibility is seen. Alot of people don't come to church but they still are interested in claiming symbols of their faith and their relationship with God. This is a small way of engaging people in their spiritual life at this time of year. It left me feeling that what I had experienced within the walls of St. Philip's was also playing out on the world stage. We are part of something much bigger. It is exciting to think about ways to go where the people are