Black falls off my fingers.<\/p>\n
A dark coat of Truth covers<\/p>\n
me, my hands, all dirty. I am<\/p>\n
Too messy for this: the sacred<\/p>\n
Marking of penitents processing.<\/p>\n
Skin rubs skin, black in between<\/p>\n
Ash smeared\u00a0upon holy, oily faces.<\/p>\n
The stream keeps moving. I am<\/p>\n
like a rock slowing the flow with<\/p>\n
redirecting, grounding.\u00a0I proclaim:<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 “Remember <\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0you are dust and to dust<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0you shall return.”<\/em><\/p>\n The steady flow of faces, the wisdom of the mantra<\/p>\n moves my solid heart. \u00a0I remember.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>I remember the softball coach<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>and his sudden death\u00a0last Spring-<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>he is now nearly dust in his grave.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>I\u00a0remember my former student killed<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>on the street and the beauty of his grin.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>I remember my grandmother, and an<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>absence, an\u00a0aching for sixteen\u00a0years.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>I remember the martyrs of this bold faith.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>I remember those marked by blood in death<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>in Syria, the C.A.R., Ukraine, Venezuela, Iraq,<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Afghanistan. I remember that they’re me.<\/p>\n The stream keeps moving. I am<\/p>\n like a rock slowing the flow with<\/p>\n redirecting, grounding.\u00a0I proclaim:<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 “Remember<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0you are dust and to dust<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0you shall return.”<\/em><\/p>\n Black falls off my fingers.<\/p>\n A dark coat of Truth covers<\/p>\n me, my hands, all dirty. I am<\/p>\n Too messy for this.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Repent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Black falls off my fingers. A dark coat of Truth covers me, my hands, all dirty. I am Too messy for this: the sacred Marking of penitents processing. Skin rubs skin, black in between Ash smeared\u00a0upon holy, oily faces. The stream keeps moving. I am like a rock slowing the flow with redirecting, grounding.\u00a0I proclaim:...","protected":false},"author":4071079,"featured_media":24237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2178641],"tags":[624509,214,698755374,8437,401,841964,7816,16950,370,294480,698755380,35614,1861871,419539,538],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-4279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayer-and-spirituality","tag-ash-wednesday","tag-christianity","tag-community","tag-death","tag-faith","tag-global-community","tag-god","tag-grief","tag-humanity","tag-interconnectedness","tag-lent","tag-loss","tag-poetry-2","tag-repent","tag-violence","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Julia-Jesus-on-cross-gianna-b-s_4upDDvG3g-unsplash.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"Ashy Remembering<\/a><\/blockquote>