The soot on our foreheads reminded me of . . .

18Jul
Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.
- Commendation, BCP p. 485

This Saturday past I volunteered to help with Trinity’s nail pulling project headed by Toto Robinson. We motored to Acadian Cypress in Ponchatoula, Louisiana where the planks of the heart Cypress ceiling boards from Trinity Church had been transported to be revitalized . We met in an airy warehouse where the wood was stored to do our work, following in the footsteps of many previous volunteers. The July heat in this vast open space added to the challenge. Our work entailed removing nails from the wood so it could be machine processed into pristine red cypress boards. Most of the nails we removed were hand forged square nails 175 years in age. 

The boards were painted gold on the sanctuary side but the backside was covered with a fine sooty black powder. This represented the smoke of candles burned at countless church services over the years. As we worked, our hands and faces became smeared with this black residue. Periodically our companion workers would stop and swab our faces clean of this powdered smoke. I felt that I was being anointed by the spirit of thousands of Trinity Parishioners of the past. How many weddings and Baptisms and Funerals and Ash Wednesdays did this represent? Gradually I became more physically connected to Trinity than I had been in a lifetime. I was reminded of the Baptismal Covenant: “By the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon this your servant the forgiveness of sin and have raised him to a new life of Grace. Sustain him Lord in your Holy Spirit. Give him an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all of your works.”

How many Hymns and vows and pleas for mercy and forgiveness and Joy have reverberated and echoed off of and been absorbed by these wooden surfaces. My parents were married in this church, my children were baptized here and my mother, father and sister went to their eternity from here. Trinity has never felt more like home.

The soot on our foreheads reminded me of Ash Wednesdays past when we celebrated the lives of our Departed Family.” Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.” The Ash on our forehead reminded us of our own mortality and the need to live life to the fullest. The square nails reminded us of Christ’s gift to us. “Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our father planned, in order to rescue us from the evil world in which we live.”(Galatians 1:1-10)

What started out as a day of fun and companionship morphed into a much more profound experience. Trinity’s past will serve as a Loadstar to future generations. “The lord works in strange and mysterious ways.”! Thanks Toto for leading this meaningful project.  

Musical Reflection - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - The Platters

Holy One, inspire us with your Holy Fire, that we may spend our lives revealing your love and honoring your Holy Name in our worship and our work. Amen.
Kingdom of GodCommunityBCP
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#ashwednesday #preservation #labor

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