BY SARAH FORTI

The Normalcy of Cleanness

Valentine’s Day falls on Ash Wednesday this year.  This combination of holidays can actually be an opportunity for deep connection.

Will you be bringing your Valentine to church?

Ash Wednesday is the first day of the season of Lent, when last year’s palms are burned and worn on our faces.  This is wearing the story on our skin, not as an addition, but as an uncovering of what we believe to be there.

In Mark 7, some Pharisees ask Jesus why his disciples are dirty.  This is a way of questioning Jesus as a teacher, as if his students have not been taught how to live righteous, normal, or clean lives.  Jesus responds with a rebuke of the Pharisees’ self-righteousness regarding their own cleanness, norms, and traditions.

“You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Mark 7:8

“Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” Mark 7:14-15

This teaching is immediately followed by the story of the Syrophoenician woman, who displays faith without observing any of their laws, traditions, or cultural norms.

This Wednesday is an opportunity to smear ash on our faces, bidding “farewell” to our norms of appearing clean, beautiful, or justified.

Valentine’s and Tattoos

Ash Wednesday is like a Valentine’s Day card that reads, “Our time is short”.  You open the card and inside it says, “but I’m here with you.  Let’s be real”.

Is there anyone who you would send this card to, inviting them into deeper conversation?

Could you imagine sending this card to yourself, being more present and honest with your own story?

What thoughts or questions are suppressed when we’re overly focused on appearing normal, clean, or justified?

In 2018, my sister and I got tattoos.  My sister went into remission from cancer, and we agreed to get tattoos together as a mile marker on that journey.  She read Corrie Ten Boom’s “The Hiding Place” while she underwent treatment....

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/deeperstill/2024/02/ash-wednesday-valentine-leave-church-dirtier-than-you-came/