What does it mean to repent? Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. This day is about repentance. It has often been said in sermons that to repent is to go a different way. That is true, but it is so much more than that. It is more than just doing things differently.
Other definitions of repentance teach that it is about asking for forgiveness and being contrite about what sins we have committed. This also is true, but it still does not capture the whole meaning of repentance. On this day, you may have a service and receive the sign of the cross on your forehead in ashes. These ashes come from the palm fronds of last Eastertide that have been burned. It is a reminder of the joy to come, Resurrection Sunday (Easter) but also a reminder that we are all those palm fronds.
For me, the missing piece of repentance that we so rarely talk about is that repentance does not just mean doing things differently, it means seeing things differently. It means that we put ourselves away and see the world, our lives and the lives of others from a different point of view. We stop seeing what we want and/or expect to see and see the world again for the very first time, the way God sees it.
Why do we do this every year? I believe we need it because living in this world does rub off on us and sometimes we lose perspective. Sometimes, if we are not very careful, we allow how we see things to become the only way to see things. It isn’t the only way. Our own viewpoint must again perish on that cross with the Beloved Son of God. We should do this daily.
But this is not a time of hopelessness or even sadness. It is the time of great hope and coming joy. Like Advent, this period of time is one of expectation. Introspection yes, realization yes, but most of all, the deep hope once again for the Risen Christ. That may help to understand why there is a cross of ashes on your forehead, the coming empty cross and empty tomb.
TMM