To touch the earth

"The seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet." 

- Novalis (Late eighteenth century philosopher of German Romanticism)

Last evening my family and I participated in our annual Ash Wednesday service.
I'd been planning to go to the local Catholic church but my wife wanted to attend another Ash Wednesday service put on by the local community churches association. That service had an hour of liturgical dance scheduled before the actual services of ashes. Now I'm not one who is moved by liturgical dance but I'm also not oppssed to it. So we ended up attending that service.

What it ended up being was less 'liturgical' and more 'ballet-style dance' set to contemporary christian music and a few hymns thrown in as well. Let me say, that with no ill towards the performance troupe, who clearly are very passionate about what they do, there was (to me at least) this huge disconnect that occurred. We went from an hour or so of up-tempo, happy, artsy, dance-y, smiley, you need Jesus in your life testimony to the high church liturgical, solemn, call to fasting, repentance, and receiving forgiveness.

When I attend an Ash Wednesday service, I have an expectation (no... really, I want) that sort of confessional, ceremonial solemnity. It was as I was reveling in the disconnect that something else occurred to me upon receiving the ashes.

"Remember that from dust you were made, and to dust you shall return"

Dust. Ashes, really.
Ashes; made from last year's palm branches were being placed on my skin.
Ashes are part of the earth. A part of the earth is now touching me.
Not only is it touching me, it's being done in a sacred manner; in the form of a cross.
There's a very ancient yet familial, relational thing happening here.
It's adamah (the earth) meeting adam (the human).

We've grown accustomed in our western mind to thinking of the 'soul' as something inside us or even a "seed" but what if what soul really is, is the place where our bodies connect with the earth. It's no accident that the part of our body that has the most direct connection with the earth are the 'soles' of our feet. This is what Novalis meant by 'soul'.

I'd go one step further and say this is where 'soul work' really happens. In fact, most of the 'soul work' that happens in our churches today occurs when our bodies touch upon the earth (baptism) or the earth is brought to us (anointing oil, ashes on forehead). And lots of other 'soul work' not found in the church has direct links with earth connection (rites of passage/vision quest/walkabout, tracking, trance dancing, drumming etc..).

Perhaps that's why Ash Wednesday has such meaning for me.

It's an opportunity for the church to acknowledge in its own way our obvious connection with God's earth.
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust

To create a sacred space and encourage me to continue to do the much needed soul work by allowing
adam
to meet  
adamah

And I can think of no better time than the season of Lent.
The journey begins...

Around (and within)...

It's now been 10 years since I first began blogging and while there hasn't been much in the way of this blog's content for the past 4 years; here I am again at the beginning of the Lenten season; and my instinct is to pay better attention to what is going on around (and within) me. So during this Lenten season, I'm seeking to be more intentional about my journey of faith and my encounters with the Holy One. One of the best ways I've been able to do this in the past was to put it out there for others to read and ponder.

For the past few years, I've continually told people that they haven't seen the best version of me yet, I feel like there's a better version of the 1.0 life I've been living. Don't be fooled; I have much in my life to be grateful for, in fact it would take one whole (very long and in depth) post to do just that. Those that know me, know specifically what I am grateful for and how I seek to model a life of gratitude.

Simply put, I feel as though I am at a crossroads again and I am chided to remember the "ancient paths" that have brought me life before and now I must find a way to continue on the old road as I find my way. This crossroad entails a struggle that I have had now for nearly 15 years: it's a journey towards physical wellness and vitality and I know in my marrow that any success I've had in the past has been when I heighten my spiritual awareness, my body awareness seems to tune in better as well. Yet so much of my 1.0 version of life has been due to the fact I've lost elements of my spiritual center. I've lost the ability to speak the language or better said to translate it as I speak with others. Lent has always pulled out of me the deeper meanings of my journey with Jesus and I pray that becomes evident in my posts.

One of the companions for the coming weeks will be Belden Lane's Backpacking with the Saints: Wilderness Hiking as Spiritual Practice. In it, there is a merging of the two rivers of my life that are most nourishing, spirituality and nature. Some of my reflections may run parallel with what I'm reading and other times I will do my best to represent the original intention of the blog: to pay attention to concentric rings of nature, soul and spirit. I've spent the better part of the past 8 years exploring the (quite literal) wilderness and now it only feels right to begin unearthing the wilderness within once again.