CCBlogs thinking critically, living faithfully

It’s Ash Wednesday, and the CCblogs network is filled with thought-provoking posts.

Ashes are dirty, says Debra Dean Murphy, like coal dust. They get under Pamela Fickenscher's fingernails, and they get Roger Lovette thinking of other smudges. They take to some foreheads more readily than others, as Darren Cushman Wood details, and we bring them out on what Maria Evans points out is the one service of the year in which we go to the altar twice. James Schaap explores the ashes’ effect on a fictional fifth-grade classroom, while Adam Thomas's story focuses on a fourth grader at church on a weekday.

What are you giving up or taking on for Lent? asks Nancy Fitz. Paul Stroble reminds us to keep it Christ-centered, and Frank Showers talks about what constitutes true treasure. Lent has the potential, says David Henson, to be a time of self-importance; Chris Brundage warns against the perils of public piety. Shawn Wamsley notes that Lent disciplines are rightly personal, though Michael Marsh reminds us that each individual journey takes place within community. Although Lent disciplines are complicated, Martha Hoverson assures us that they are “not intended to ruin your life.”

Bob Cornwall draws from Joan Chittister on the urgency of repentance, while Mark Powell points out that we already know how. Will Willimon talks about preaching on the cross; Ed Sunday-Winters pushes for a less safe Jesus. Warren Hicks asks: what has your attention?

Milton Brasher-Cunningham prays for disquiet; Amy Julia Becker longs for grace that disrupts routine. Lent is about transformation, says Julie Clawson, not denial; Ernesto Tinajero points out that self-control is itself about being transformed. How will Lent change Ryan Dueck?

James Lumsden describes his eucharistic angle on Lent this year and offers a short reading list. As for Weston Williams, he comes from a church “non-tradition” in which it’s a stretch to observe Ash Wednesday at all. Joshua Hearne offers that the reason we prepare for Lent’s journey is that we can’t see Easter yet. One way to prepare, according to Ellen Haroutunian, is—well, was—to party.

Angela Shier-Jones talks to God about being dust, while Dianna Woolley and Rachel Hackenberg offer poems. Janet Edwards, Jan Richardson and Elmer Ewing reflect on the lectionary readings. We are creatures, says Steve Woolley. Still, Allan Bevere doesn’t want to die.