Mercredi des Cendres

Mercredi des Cendres is Ash Wednesday - today! As I'm doing my jetting about the UK (we safely arrived with Bristol grandparents yesterday afternoon, in the middle of lambing season, and fly to Edinburgh grandparents today), I got thinking and photographing and scheduled most of this post in advance... Ashes are quite a significant part of life when you heat your house with a wood fire. We mainly burn oak, which is strong and slow-burning, producing a nice, pale ash. When we add in other wood, gleaned from fallen trees or ordered too late (and therefore a bit damp and 'green'), the ash is darker, I think a sign that the burning wasn't so efficient.

Whatever ash we get drops, or is brushed, through the grate into the ash pan below the fire. This needs emptying whenever it fills up, as some ventilation is essential through the grate. If the fire won't start, the first thing I do is check the ash pan. One lovely difference between the wood fire and the coal ones we had in some of our English houses is that it burns best when cleaned infrequently - the logs like an insulating layer of ash to lie on. My kind of housekeeping!

The finished ashes are thrown into our metal bin (I always think of the plastic ones which still have 'no hot ashes' printed on their lids). We use the ash over the year to mix with compost from the heap, which really improves our heavy clay soil.
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Ash Wednesday is so-called because from the Middle Ages Christians used this day to begin

Lent with a day of repentance and reflection on their sins. It's true that words like 'repentance' and 'sins' have been used to control and subjugate people over time (having studied history and read books like The Name of the Rose and Chocolat I can see the terrible side of control in the name of God). But I think we throw the baby out with the bathwater if we reject words like that because they've been misused. A cross of ashes is traditionally drawn on the forehead of every person at the service. I don't think I've ever been a member of a church which did this, but I went to a Catholic school and more recently visited a Catholic Ash Wednesday service in Harrogate when we lived there. I found the symbolism very moving and effective. In the Old Testament putting ashes on the forehead was a symbol of mourning and sorrow. It certainly shows that you're not thinking of your personal style - people leave the cross on all day and get funny looks!

I can't find different traditons for mercredi des cendres in France - it seems to be a very standard ritual all round the Catholic world. For me I think the key word has got to be 'repentance', which means no more than 'turning'. It's about taking time to look at your life and the direction it's going in. Not happy with that direction? Turn!

As a Christian I feel that the direction I always need to be moving in is towards Jesus. Lots of things in blogging help me to do that - your friendships, the Challenge of the Utmost Kind, learning more about your lives and thoughts, and reflecting on our family's life and priorities as I blog about them help me to remember that there IS a purpose and there IS a direction. Knowing Jesus shows me the goal, and gives me the strength to make changes I couldn't manage on my own.

This is me thinking out loud, trying to work out what Lent, as a non-Conformist Christian in a non-Liturgical church, means to me. Stay tuned for the Pause in Lent, where I may even make some sense of it, with your help!