Ash Wednesday

Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.

I won’t be attending the opening night of Mel Gibson’s movie. I’ll be in church. It’s Ash Wednesday.

I wonder if he’s going to miss the opening of his own movie? Or maybe his branch of the church doesn’t observe that tradition? Couldn’t be that he’s be encouraging people to skip out on a service just to go to a movie…

In looking around for Ash Wednesday info, I found this poem by T.S. Eliot. It’s got nothing to do with this post, but so what?

Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.

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7 Responses to Ash Wednesday

  1. Zuly says:

    Not everybody goes to Ash Wednesday services at night… most Catholic churches have several during the day… and some people even take the day as a personal day. I would imagine that if you buy into that theology, such a movie might be “inspiring” to ones Lenten habits.

    {Not me.)

    My sister is going to see the movie for a seminary class (in a couple of weeks.) I’ll let you know what she thinks.

  2. Linkmeister says:

    Eliot did occasionally write a little more upbeat than The Waste Land, huh? 😉

  3. Solonor says:

    Yeah, I know, Zuly. I’m just being a snot head, because I don’t appreciate the commercialization of the whole thing. And while I doubt that the film is anywhere close to historically accurate, that’s not really its point. Our Sunday school class is talking about going to see it together, because you shouldn’t discuss something like this without firsthand knowledge. I’m just not sure I can take the graphic scenes.

  4. kat says:

    What rating did it get due to the graphic violence? I’m curious.

  5. Aravis says:

    Linkmeister, actually the Waste Land was pretty much the last work he did before converting to Christianity, I believe. Most of his latter poems and plays of his are all threaded with Christian symbolism. One of his best and most well-known poems from this period is Journey of the Magi.

  6. Linkmeister says:

    Aravis, thanks. I need to go back and look at his work again, I guess. We have a slim volume of Eliot which must be the earlier material. I like it, but there’s only so much I can take at one reading.

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