Ash Wednesday Sermon 2010

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk…

Portia Nelson has a poem
titled Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
I think this poem holds the heart of this day,
Ash Wednesday.

Listen to this poem.

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters.

I

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…I am helpless. It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

II

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place,
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.


III

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

IV

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street.



That is the most we can hope from Ash Wednesday.
That this day will help us honestly open our eyes,
help us see our own faults
and pray that we might learn to walk around
all the deep holes in our sidewalks.
And, with God’s help,
find our way to journey down a new street.

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent.
Christians all over the world will find their way to church today
just as you and I have.

We come to church to receive a cross,
made on our forehead by a thumb dipped in ashes,
and to hear the words,
Remember that you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.


A reminder of how little time we really have here in this world.
A reminder that—regardless of our age—it is already late—
But NOT too late.

A reminder of how much God wants us to really live,
to really live as our true selves,
as the people, the person, God created each one of us to be,
to become.

Ash Wednesday calls out to us saying, “What are you waiting for?”
Ash Wednesday calls out to us saying,
“Why do you keep falling in the same deep hole in the sidewalk?”


We all have deep holes in our sidewalks.
Where you fall is not where I fall.
where I fall is not where you fall.

For some those holes in the sidewalk are addictions,
for some they are short tempers and anger,
for some they are gossip or lying,
for some they are always having to be right,
or always needing to be the center of attention.


Ash Wednesday and this holy season of Lent
call us to look closely
at why we keep winding up on the bottom
of the same deep hole.

To have any hope for life,
we must learn to say, “It is my fault.”
We must learn to say, “I am sorry” and really mean it.


God knows the truth about us
and loves us still.
But God doesn’t want us spending this oh so short life
sitting at the bottom of the hole in our sidewalk.

Remember that you are dust
And to dust you shall return.