Ash Wednesday

There are very few things I do that outwardly show that I actually practice as an Episcopalian. Partly because no one knows (including episcopalians) what it is that episcopalians really believe in. However, there is exactly one season that I really do take seriously and that is Lent. As it is, Ash Wednesday is a big deal to me. So yesterday, being Ash Wednesday and all, I decided I needed to get ashes rubbed on my forehead. It looked bleak. I don't really know of any "closeby" churches that are anglican or even remotely close to anglican. I know there is a big catholic church, but that's quite a hike, and I have no idea when their services are. Well, as it was, I went out with some visitors from Poland last night. We walked over toward Elliot's beach and decided to have dinner. On the way, I got a stiff reminder that I'd missed ash wednesday... I saw several hundred people walking the other direction with ashes on their foreheads... Then I realized that the big church right on the beach is catholic. So, appealing to the Poles (97% are catholic) I asked if I could run over and see the church. They walked over with me, and I ran over to where I could get the imposition of ashes. I did my little E-team prayers within the catholic church and asked some gentleman to put ashes on me. That was that. I actually somehow managed to not miss ash wednesday entirely. In fact I was even bold enough to walk around with ashes on my forehead for the entire evening thereafter. In the United States it's not a problem. Ash Wednesday is not usually in a time of year in which sweat will wash away the ashes in minutes. I had to refrain from wiping my forehead every few seconds. After a while, the ashes were gone anyway. But, in India, where it is so often necessary to state your religious affiliation openly, I try to avoid that entirely. I will however make an exception on one day a year. That day was yesterday and I got to have an approximate Beginning to Lent. I gotta figure out what to do when Easter rolls around...