Ash Wednesday, March 2

March 2, 2022 John 3:21: But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God. Tuesday, January 12, 2012 at 4:50 pm I was walking with friends in Jacmel, Haiti when it sounded like the largest diesel truck ever was barreling toward us. It took a moment when the ground began to shake for it to trigger that we were actually experiencing an earthquake. Huge clouds of dust and debris from pulverizing cinder blocks and collapsing buildings choked our lungs. Screams and cries came from all around us. We still had four people back at our hotel and so we rushed through the dust, fallen power lines, and streets piled up to 10 feet in rubble to make our way back to the hotel. Once we had everyone in our party safe, we left our partially collapsed hotel to seek out shelter. We eventually found our way to a refugee camp established by the United Nations on a small airstrip. As it was close to midnight and we were the only Americans to be seen, we hunkered down off to the side of the make-shift camp. We were concerned about how people would respond during this tragedy and didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves. The next morning, we discovered that we had little to fear. Haitian people who had lost everything recognized that we foreigners had nowhere to go and began to reach out to us. A group of folks invited us to gather near them under the few trees present on this small airstrip so that we could be shielded from the sun. This group loaned us a few blankets so that we did not have to sit on the bare ground. One man came over to us and gave us a sack full of coconuts. Another man brought us a bag full of baked rolls. A woman brought us a jar of mamba (spicy Haitian peanut butter). We listened as the crowd sang hymns in Haitian Creole. We added our voices, singing the same hymns in English. Some who were in the earthquake could see only death and destruction. I chose to focus on the countless acts of love, care, compassion, sacrifice, and hope that we personally experienced through our Haitian siblings. I could see beauty in the midst of the devastation. Even on the most difficult and trying days, God showed up through beautiful human beings assuring us that love and life win. Experiencing the “dust” during the Haitian earthquake has reframed for me the Ash Wednesday phrase, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” I’ll never forget how long it took to wash all of the dust from my body, hair, ears, and nose. Not only am I dust, I carry a lot of dust. God loves us dusty humans. When God looks at us, God sees beauty and goodness. This love from God gives us the opportunity every single day to choose love and choose hope. We don’t choose this because it’s easy. We choose it because we are loved and have received the promise that love and life win through the risen Christ. We pray that these devotions will inspire you each day through your Lenten journey to be the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world by actively choosing love and hope. God loves you and I do too! Loving God, thank you for my life. Thank you for naming and claiming me as your precious child. Help me to choose love and choose hope each and every day so that your light might shine through me and all may experience real life in Jesus’ name. Amen Pastor Doug Hill, Lead Pastor