Everyone
has heard of Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday, but what follows is the 40 days of
Lent, a spiritual time to do holy listening, learn about faith and listen to
what God is saying. Lent began on Ash Wednesday, and as a spiritual service
Rev. Tim Higgins and Deacon Wendy Rozene from St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in
Windham administered Ashes to Go in front of the Windham Post Office Wednesday
afternoon. This was their fourth year.
“People
have busy lives, busy schedules. We’re bringing it to the streets. We’ve had
some incredible grace filled moments,” Higgins said. “There’s something about
praying on the sidewalk in front of God and nature.”
People
stopped to be prayed over and have ashes put on their foreheads. Some drove up in
cars because they were too weak to get out and others were not going to be able
to make the Wednesday night service.
“The
ashes remind us the importance of each day. Life is impermanent,” said Mary Jo
DiBenedetto-Nelson.
“Some
people were brand new and saw it in the paper,” said Rozene. “Others are
regulars now.”
The
pair stood in front of the post office with a table with a “Lent in a bag”
which was sand, a person, a candle and a rock, and literature about Lent.
The
prophet Joel blew a trumpet as a wake-up call. “Lent is a wake-up call to us,”
said Higgins. “We stick out like a sore tooth. It’s startling. It’s a wake-up
call that the Lord is near.”
The
ashes are the burnt remains of last year’s Palm Sunday palms. For Higgins and
Rozene, coming to the people also gives them the opportunity to do some
teaching. Some people stop to ask what they were doing.
“It’s
a very cool outreach,” Higgins said.
The
trend has always been to give something up for Lent, but recently there has
been a movement that instead of giving things up, people are taking things on,
said Rozene. They look for projects that reflect what priorities are important
to them.
