The smudge of ash on the forehead on Ash Wednesday … in much of religious practice today, the news is always good, always brighter, better, newer. It is refreshing to be part of a tradition of faith which is capable of the change of gear from Mardi Gras to Ash Wednesday. And as I knelt to receive it, I though again of the power of ritual action. And I thought too of Ireland where everything points towards something else – in Ireland the smudge of ash would be an unintended marker of religious division. It would mean ‘Catholic’ rather than ‘Protestant’
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Bishop David, I am a Yank who is enjoying your blog via the RSS feed. What you say about the ashes being separators in Ireland was profound. Here it is a separator between those who go to church and those who don’t. Thanks.