For the Christian there is no room for cynicism

You've probably heard as have I, "Ash Wednesday's coming be prepared for all the people showing up for their Ashes. Why, folks?"

Or

"they come for their free gift of Ashes"

Or

"they think it's a holy day of obligation"

Or

"we won't see them again until it's time for them to receive their palms"

Or whatever other cynical quip we come up with that makes us look like righteous arrogant twerps.

Now I'm not belittling the fact that a lot of people show up for Ashes on ash Wednesday who don't come back until palm Sunday, but with that attitude from Christians, is it any wonder they don't come back? Seriously, when I was a raging heathen not once did I show up because it was a holy day of obligation. I didn't show up on Sundays which were days of obligation. I didn't show up for my "free Ashes", because I wiped them off as soon as I got them. I didn't show up for the cynical Christians. I showed up because I instinctively knew there was something important about gathering in community as sinners seeking repentance. It was a timeless tradition from age to age that my parents, grandparents, and so forth did that kept me tied to something that was bigger than me. I didn't know this something was a someone. I didn't know his tremendous love for me and had it not been for the Christian cynics....

Had I never encountered those cynical Christians perhaps I would been able to put into words the internal longings I instinctively knew existed within me.

Perhaps I would have felt welcomed and returned to the church sooner than I did.

Perhaps I wouldn't have wasted so much time running from and instead run into my Gods loving embrace. So much wasted time!

In any case it occurs to me that perhaps my brothers and sisters who only show up on Ash Wednesday, they just might have a better understanding of just what exactly this whole lenten season is about. They might not be able to put it into words, but they just might know a whole lot more than my cynical brothers and sisters.

So whoever you are, cynic, critic, or sinner, welcome home and enjoy this lenten season! I certainly have high hopes for this lenten season.

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