Dear Daughter,
On Ash Wednesday, if you’re in church, the minister will invite you to the observance of a “holy Lent” and mark your forehead with the ashes of repentance.
Let me be very clear about this at the outset: I love you so much. I delight in you. I cherish you. For ever.
Here are a few more things I want you to comprehend. Despite what you’ve been taught, “holy” does not mean pure and unearthly. “Sin” does not mean breaking my rules and making me mad. “Penitence” does not mean listing and wallowing in all the ways you’re wrong and bad. Repentance does not mean promising to do better to stay out of trouble.
Please think about these words a new way, on Ash Wednesday and every other day going forward.
What if you only sin when you refuse healing and cling to brokenness? When you use those sharp broken edges to hurt yourself and others?
What if holiness is when you choose to be whole, even though you’re terrified? When you embrace and enfold those pieces of yourself you’ve lopped off to fit into others’ molds?
What if penitence is when you see yourself clearly, and know, speak, and live from your heart?
What if “repentance” is re-membering your true self in all her messy glory?
What if, this Lent, instead of focusing on the ways you’re not good enough and the ways you fall short, you commit to your own healing?
I was there at the Big Bang, enlivening every particle, atom and molecule. You are made of me, and through me you are connected to everything and everyone. I am everywhere. You swim in me and I in you.
This means, my dear, when you let yourself be healed, your healing heals the world. And when you cling to your brokenness, the world stays a little more broken than it needs to be. Your healing is important and necessary. You think your healing is selfish. That’s incorrect. Your healing is crucial. I’m using that word deliberately, sweetheart. Your healing IS the crux – where you and I come together.
This Lent, the only fasts I want from you are these: Fast from distractions that allow you to stay wounded and broken. Fast from believing you’re not good enough. Fast from making yourself small, and nice, and silent. Fast from all judgment, especially of yourself.
This Lent, make space for me to flow into you and through you.
Befriend your fear, your anger, and your sadness. They are a deep source of nourishment and strength.
Let your love go free.
Let your joy be unconfined.
Sweetheart, healing isn’t complicated, and it’s always available. All you have to do is tap into it, like a maple tree in springtime or an aquifer of living water. You know this. But it’s so easy to forget, isn’t it? All you have to do is let me clear out the dams and the trash, the resentments and identities and old, too-small skins, that keep you stuck and stagnant. Relax your heart armor just a little. And then allow yourself to flow, child. That’s all you have to do. I’ll do the rest.
This Ash Wednesday, let those ashes symbolize our unending connection, a connection so easy to forget and so simple to strengthen. When the priest wipes those gritty ashes on your forehead and says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” celebrate your elemental oneness with this dear, dirty earth and with me. I am in those ashes, in the dust, in the stars, and in you.
Girl, I need you! You’re the only you I created. So, please, let yourself be the creation I made you to be. You don’t need someone outside yourself telling you how to live. Trust yourself. Trust your heart. Trust me. I’ve got you.
All my Love,
God
Ash Wednesday, 2020 update: This post was first published on Ash Wednesday of 2019, and it’s received over 60,000 views. I closed comments in 2019 because, although most comments were positive, some comments labeled those who found solace in this post as foolish, unchristian, ungodly heretics. I’m reopening comments for 2020 and will delete any comments which denigrate others. Use the contact form to email me directly. ~Barb
This is the single most important, inspiring, and motivational reading I have seen about preparing for Ash Wednesday and Lent. Thank you, Barb.
Beautiful and thought provoking. Grazie! Celeste
I love THIS God!❤❤❤
oh Barb, oh my. This is VERY powerful. And a gift for those of us who struggle with Lent, ashes, being made small etc.
Thanks my friend….
Would you consider sending this to our ( Your former) Diocesan news or website?)…
Mary
Thank you for this, Barb. It is lovely and grounding for me ❤️
Beautiful, Barb. I tweeted it for my peeps @WillaGoodfellow
Beautifully written
Well said, Barb.
I can’t remember when a devotion has spoken directly to my soul quite like this. Especially: “You think your healing is selfish. That’s incorrect. You’re healing is crucial.” That is a truth I’ve been sidestepping too often and too long.
Bless you for sharing these words of truth and renewal with us on this holy day.
What we all need and crave – truth . ❤️
Wow! I needed to hear/ read that, today more than ever. Thanks!
Your daughter,
Deb
Just this week, one of my clients asked why some people have ashes.on their foreheads. I will be reposting this beautiful explanation. Thank you !!!
Thank you God.
Thank you. This is a wonderful message that will give meaning to my Lenten practice.
What a perfect way to enter into Lent.
Thank you, X 1000000. I printed this for my daughter (17) who suffers from depression. What a wonderful flashlight you have written, to beam rays of hope and love into her heart. Bless you.+
Sweet!
Wow. Amen.
This is just beautiful. A new way of thinking for me! Thank you
This is really beautiful. Thank you!
This is wonderful. But God……..where is your letter to your sons………in this day and age, being a male is not as easy as it once was………….could you make it to your children, or maybe write another to your sons……..Thank you……
We can’t redefine words to make ourselves feel good, and it is dangerous to put words in the mouth of God, especially when they contradict the Bible. (They also contradict the dictionary.) The feminine god quoted above is not the God of the Bible. Below are a few verses that define “Father God”, “holy”, “sin”, and “repentance”. God is holy and wants us to be holy by repenting of our sin and putting our faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.
GOD THE FATHER
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.'” John 8:42
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,” 2 Cor. 1:3
HOLY
“And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:3
” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ” Luke 1:35
“Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Cor. 7:1
SIN
The vast terminology, within its biblical contexts, suggests that sin has three aspects: disobedience to or breach of law, violation of relationships with people, and rebellion against God, which is the most basic concept. See a multitude of verses listed here: https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/sin/
REPENTANCE
The most common translation of “repent” is “turn” or “return”. Two requisites of repentance are “to turn from evil, and to turn to the good.” Most critical theologically is the idea of returning to God, or turning away from evil. If one turns away from God, apostasy is indicated. In the New Testament, the key term for repentance is metanoia – It has two usual senses: a “change of mind” and “regret/remorse.”
Confession of sins is both commanded and frequently illustrated.
” when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.” Leviticus 5:5
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Let us observe Lent by humbly examining ourselves and our relationship to our holy God, repenting of all sin that separates us from Him, putting our faith in Jesus Christ who died in our place, and turning back to following Him wholeheartedly.
Yes we can. All of life is holy. Blessings.
thank you. i can’t imagine the audacity of putting words into the mouth of God. i’m astonished
She did say all of this, with a clarity for today’s Christians that need to hear these traditional definitions with a new way. I truly understand your copied definitions, thank you for posting for comparison, and her poetic writings.
Sounds like you are a literalist… sad… we cannot put God in a “Bible” and put walls around it! God is also feminine and more… I don’t believe God has genitals or gender!!! God is “out” of our limited box of understanding. Woohoo
Susan, thank you for your comments. Obviously I don’t agree with you, and that’s fine. You are on a more traditional journey than I am. Bless you on your path, sister.
I agree with Susan Toms’ comment that the author’s New Age, pantheistic, feminine, self-help “God” (who is in fact the Hindu Brahman-Atman “energy of the universe” and “one’s higher Self” disguised as a personal force) is not the God of Christianity. Christians confess a personal triune Deity, with a holy, transcendent Father, a holy, incarnate Son, and a holy, indwelling Spirit. Unfortunately, many people who go to church today are not given a basis in Christian theology or mysticism and feel distant and depreciated by God, and thus turn to Hindu yoga or Buddhist meditation to fill their spiritual hunger, or else “reinterpret” Christian theology in the appealing New Age framework, creating a kind of theological syncreticism.
One may ask, so what? If this is what helps people feel the Divine and reconnect to their own souls and be encouraged to start healing, what’s bad with that? For some people, a little New Age spirituality doesn’t do any harm, and can in fact make them more attuned to the Holy Spirit (the true Christian conceptual equivalent of the omnipresent, indwelling, healing and comforting Divine Presence). However, if one takes this New Age theology to its natural conclusion, one will become confused as to God’s will and moral law, since the messages of “let yourself flow,” “believe in yourself,” and “let your love go free,” easily cross the line into “do what feels right,” “accept your natural instincts,” and “engage in free love.” The authority of God’s law is replaced by the authority of one’s “higher Self.” Faith in a personal Savior is replaced by faith in one’s self-healing powers, if only one “opens up” to the Divine energy flowing through the stars and atoms. The holiness achieved through controlling one’s natural impulses is replaced by the wholeness of embracing “one’s true self.”
All these messages may be psychologically helpful to a broken person or one experiencing crisis, who needs to receive unconditional love from “the universe,” to learn to love herself, and to be given support from one’s life coach, mentor or psychologist. But this is still a far step from authentic religion and faith. A pregnant teenager, for example, may need to hear such words of comfort to get over her anxiety and fear, and that is the job of a social worker or shrink. But eventually, in order to truly heal from the situation, she must be lead to face her own responsibility for the pregnancy and for her developing child. That is the job of a skilled priest or religious counselor. Otherwise, she may take an irreversible action and kill the child because “her inner self” told her so. After all, she doesn’t “need someone outside herself telling her how to live.”
Guilt that leads to repentance and change of direction is not a bad thing. That is what the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is all about. And those ashes on Ash Wednesday might just be the tool to remind that uncertain teenager that just like a fetus who is aborted, her own body will one day return to dust and ashes. Perhaps she will lift her eyes to the Cross at that point and say, “God, I am truly sorry. I want life, abundant life, and I want it not just for myself, but for my child as well. Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner, and lead me to life everlasting.” The healing and wholeness that would happen then is beyond any that the New Age “divine energy” can provide because it gives moral direction and clarity as well as psychological, spiritual catharsis.
This God in the poem is not pantheistic, but panentheistic–big difference. All is not God, but God is in All. This is Biblical for you Biblicists out there. One only need to read Genesis. God is never fully other, but exists in every living thing–indeed is creation itself! Peace, DD
I was thinking that too Susan Toms.
This letter has many nice sentiments in it but when you redefine words that God has already defined, it’s just wrong. You are leading others astray. Truth + Untruth = Untruth
And for “Donna”, God is not “walled in” by the Bible. You will never know Him or how He deals with His children if you don’t read it. It’s all there. God’s character has never changed from the beginning of time. He is the same: yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
This response reminds me of Job. Remember Elihu who, when Job despaired at the silence of God in his trials, reminded Job that just because you don’t hear God does not mean He isn’t nearby. Then came the three friends who “instructed” Job in what he must have done wrong, on his incorrect theology…and who ended up in trouble? If someone is in pain and we throw scripture at them hoping it will “stick” then exactly what have we done to help them? And just how have we reflected God’s love and saving grace? Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. Lent is about a journey to the cross and if you were standing on the side of the road when Jesus walked by carrying the cross, would you pile something else on top of it? Yes, we DO need to humbly examine ourselves and our relationship with God and then we are free to BE Christ in the world for each other.
What you CAN’T do, is confine God to the Bible. God came first. And we are ALL made in God’s image, an image that no human’s mind can grasp, including yours. Seep in the mystery and open your mind and heart to images beyond your human mental capacities. For you do NOT know all God has in store. Don’t limit God.
Why thank you for illustrating the narrowminded interpretation of the Pharisees. Let us observe Lent by humbly connecting to God in ways that are meaningful to our own lives and nurturing in our relationships with God and others, however that may be.
Posted by Barb Morris at Susan Tom’s request after comments were closed: “When we want to know a person, we observe what they say and what they do . . . and whether they are consistent. The only way to know the God of the Bible and His Son is to study their words and actions in the Bible. Certainly we see God’s hand in our world and in our lives, and we hear His voice in our hearts, but if there is any contradiction between the Bible and our experience, don’t we trust the Bible at the expense of our inclinations? Contradictory voices or feelings could be coming from the Deceiver or from our own emotions, but God’s Word stands forever. Here I stand. I don’t want an imaginary god created by my own or someone else’s imagination, no matter how reassuring that god might sound; I need a God who has been proven to be REAL, to be Truth. That’s the only way to be sure He is also the Way and the Life. I want to be saved from myself, my sin, and eternal punishment. I want to know and spend eternity with the real, good, righteous God. The authenticity and veracity of the Bible has been proven time and time again.
Panentheism is a new term to me, but it appears to have a wide range of interpretations. I cannot see that it corresponds with the Genesis account of creation where God created the world quite apart from His own existence. In the article, the statement credited to God, “You are made of me, and through me you are connected to everything and everyone” is closer to the definition of pantheism, is it not? The God of the Bible is certainly everywhere, but not a part of what He created.
Dee Martin: I was not addressing hurting people; I was addressing the concepts in the article which are inconsistent with biblical teaching.
Job’s 3 friends contradicted the Bible, saying suffering was punishment for wickedness, and Job rather agreed with them, justifying himself. Elihu appeared and addressed their error and Job’s pride — not always “sweetly”. And God had the final say. The conclusion: Suffering is designed and applied to each of us by our LOVING God, to strengthen our faith and holiness, and to bring glory to Himself. This is reiterated in the NT by Paul, James, the writer of Hebrews, and Peter, and these verses are among those I would share with those who are suffering — they all relate to dependence on Christ, not reassurances that we are good in our messy glory and that we should live from our hearts :
We were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Why, we felt that we had received the sentence of death; but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8–9)
Therefore, count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)
Our Father disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:10–11)
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6–7)
• Barb, I don’t question your motives and admire your compassion for those who hurt.
Lisa Johnson and Emme Wilson-Boggs, I spoke up, not to be “right” but to point out “truth”. Truth is objective and determined by God. “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24. Jesus claimed himself to be “the Truth” (John 14:6). The message of salvation is “the word of the truth, the gospel” (Colossians 1:5, (James 1:18), this “word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) that Christian workers endeavor to handle aright. God’s truth anchors the true Christian.
• Using the Bible as our guide through life is not Pharisaical. The errors of the Pharisees were that they added to the OT teachings, and they took pride in their “obedience”, but Jesus COMMENDED them for knowing and teaching the Law. “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ (Mark 7:6-7). “Therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.” (Mt. 23:3)
•
• I also spoke up to question doctrine that could lead people astray. Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” John 7:13-14. GOD’S way is narrow.
•
• Our understanding of God, Jesus, sin, and salvation have everything to do with our direction in this life, and our destiny in the next. I pray that we each may find it in Jesus.”
It’s at our footsteps,,,by the time you start justifying something, you’re already convinced that moving in the wrong direction is right,,,
Thank you
Thank you for this – it’s beautiful
I so needed this devotional! It’s food for thought and Faith! So much love, grace to grow, and encouragement in these words! Thank you!
Thanks Anna, This is beautiful, I love it.
Absolutely beautiful. Thanks for posting this.
Thank you for allowing God to use you in this way. I’m broken. This is beautiful
This is so beautifully written. This is aust read for all women , all girls , all people walking in different paths of many Gods.
This would be a stunning revelation for a lot of people. I would like to read parts of it in my sermon on Sunday giving credit of course if you wouldn’t mind
Beautiful, powerful and overflowing with truth from deep within!! Thank you for these healing words of blessings!!!
Beautiful letter and thoughtful message for Ash Wednesday. Thank you!
Hi Barb, I knew not one thing about you until 5 minutes ago. But this blog post slayed me. Just slayed me. In a really, really good way.
Thank you for this beautiful message.
Thoughts for the start of Lent …
Very thought provoking
Inspirational
And a clear Interpretation of God’s masterpiece.
I didn’t get to go to the meeting to receive the ashes. It would have beem my first time. I have a cold and didn’t want to spread the germs.
Thank you for this letter. I will do as it said to the best of my understanding.
Good morning, Ms. Morris. Thank you for the gentle reminders that God created us to be whole, and to have life, and life more abundantly with healing from all rejections (from ourselves and others), (John 10:10). Your reflections are a convicting reminder of the importance of our individual responsibility to use our gifts and unique personalities and opportunities to bless our world with His glory through our God-centered lives.
However, I respectfully say that the true God did not create His universe out of a spontaneous explosion of molecules and atoms, as in the Big Bang theory. By definition and intention, the Big Bang theory ignores and dismisses the part that an omnipotent God plays in His own creation, including the people He said that He made in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). He carefully, knowingly and lovingly created everything that exists, including our value and individual purpose. Also, these principles of repentance from our sin are not just for forty days, but for life. God never called us to forty days of repentance prior to the observation of the projected dates of His crucifixion and resurrection. The Gospels show that Christ never called His disciples to even observe His resurrection as an actual rite, but as a basis for their faith. He does, through the Last Supper, call us to celebrate His death through the Communion. The concept of Lent is a Roman Catholic convention instituted under Emperor Constantine in the fourth century A.D. to combine the reality of Christ’s death and resurrection and by origin, Babylonian celebration of spring fertility rites to their gods, into a unifying celebration which we now know as Lent, followed by Easter. The same principle is behind the declaration that Christ was born on December 25th. The Romans originally believed that the Unconquered Sun God was born on December 25th. The Lord Jesus Christ was added under Emperor Constantine. The Roman Catholic church as we know it began with Emperor Constantine’s attempts to unify the Christians and pagans under one belief system.
Nonetheless, the moral principles here are indeed important. We are not called to befriend affliction, but to recognize it for what it is, confront it, fall out of agreement with it, and allow Christ to heal us from our stubbornness. Thank you for reading this message and God bless you today.
Just beautiful and POWERFUL! Thank you!
Barb, I so completely admire your strength and bravery to have opened the Comments section of your blog to public view.
Wow… so many people find it soooo completely and utterly important to be “right” that they cannot simply accept your intense, deeply felt sentiments and message of the crucial need for HEALING in this time. When we are willing to look past details to the spirit of the message, we can then appreciate your heartfelt love and expressed need for deep soul healing, especially for women in this day and age. Bless you, Sister.
This is evil. Don’t be fooled because it was well written. Barb does not serve the God of the Bible, the only true God, but a god of her imagination. Don’t follow her; she’s leading you astray.
Trust the Lord with all your heart thus sayith the Lord! Lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct your path!! Don’t look too yourself it’s not about you!!! It’s about God!! Glorify Him in all you do!!
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I am so happy to see this again, Barb. I love how you plant your feet in ancient soil and grow toward God’s light, blooming and fruiting as the Spirit guides. I know your trust and faith is true and strong, and your words are guided by a prayerful, open heart. “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
Barb,
This is terrific. Exactly what I needed today.
Thank you beloved sister.
Nedi
Thanks, very nicely stated! I
thank you! “Sweetheart, healing isn’t complicated, and it’s always here for you. All you have to do is tap into it, like a springtime maple tree or an aquifer of living water. You know this. But it’s so easy to forget, isn’t it? All you have to do is let me clear out the dams and the trash, the resentments and identities and old, too-small skins that keep you stuck and stagnant. Open your heart armor just a little. Let go, child. Breathe and soften. That’s all you have to do. I’ll do the rest.” this is what I have been trying to put words to….