Many people from all walks of life received their ashes yesterday. For some, it was a spontaneous moment of recognition — a quiet sense that this was what they needed. For others, it was something they intentionally sought out, whether at the transit station or in church.
Ash Wednesday has become a shared witness to faith in our community, with clergy from St. Barnabas, the Irvington Presbyterian Church, and the United Methodist churches in Dobbs Ferry and Ardsley joining together throughout the day.
From a noontime service at Ardsley Methodist Church, to offering ashes in the community and at the transit station, and concluding in the evening at Irvington Presbyterian Church, faith met people where they were.
A moment of the enduring power of faith, as we received our ashes we remembered that we are “dust, and to dust we shall return” — people of God, made deeply in God’s image.
This past Sunday in my sermon I leaned heavily on the wisdom of Anne Lamott as I explored the nature of mercy as it relates to the practices we immerse ourselves in during Holy Week. Here’s her definition of what mercy looks like: “Mercy is radical kindness. Mercy means offering or being offered aid in desperate […]
Back in the 50’s and 60’s, it was thought that 500-year-old church divisions could be healed if churches reached across denominational lines and got to know each other. This was an exciting time for the churches in Irvington, as all the fundamental theological issues between the Protestant, Catholic, and Anglican Churches were on the way […]
In my message last week, I wrote of an emerging sense of optimism shared by our church leadership that church life can once again take on the semblance of normality. This past week, Bishop Dietsche shared his own sense of optimism in a letter entitled, “Return of the Common Cup.” He wrote, “…with the waning […]