Here’s
a blessing for Ash Wednesday from Jan L. Richardson and The Painted Prayerbook.
Blessing for Ash Wednesday
So
let the ashes come
as
beginning
and
not as end;
the
first sign
but
not the final.
Let
them rest upon you
as
invocation and invitation,
and
let them take you
the
way that ashes know
to
go.
May
they mark you
with
the memory of fire
and
of the life
that
came before the burning:
the
life that rises and returns
and
finds its way again.
See
what shimmers
amid
their darkness,
what
endures
within
their dust.
See
how they draw us
toward
the mystery
that
will consume
but
not destroy,
that
will blossom
from
the blazing,
that
will scorch us
with
its joy.
~ written by Jan L. Richardson, and posted on The Painted Prayerbook. http://paintedprayerbook.com/
