Stardust
Dear Beloved — made from stardust,
On Ash Wednesday morning I had the privilege of marking foreheads with ashes at the church coffee bar — preschool teachers hurrying between classrooms, parents wrangling children, members stopping on their way to work. One by one I traced the cross and spoke the ancient words:
“You are a beloved child of God.
You were formed from dust, and to dust you will return.”
At first those words sound heavy. Dust reminds us of our limits and our mortality. But in Scripture dust is never worthless. It is the very material God chooses to work with — earth shaped by divine hands and filled with breath.
And even science deepens that wonder. The elements that make up our bodies were forged inside ancient stars and scattered across the universe before becoming part of the earth and, eventually, part of us. We are dust, yes — but star-dust.
Ashes do not tell us we are nothing.
They tell us God refuses to work with anything else.
On Wednesday evening I shared a line from Jan Richardson’s Blessing of the Dust: the ashes mark not that we are less than we are, but what God can do “within the dust… and the stars that blaze in our bones.” The sign of ashes is not about shame. It is about calling.
God works with ordinary lives — busy mornings, heavy hearts, wounded relationships, anxious thoughts, distracted attention.
Lent is a season of intention and attention. We notice what draws us toward God and what pulls us away. We lay down what weighs us down — guilt, fear, distraction, habits that dim our hearts — so that we can walk with Christ toward life.
The ashes on our foreheads are an outward sign of an inward commitment: we are choosing the journey. Not trying to become someone new, but uncovering who we already are — beloved children of God, created to reflect divine love in the world.
For these forty days, may we clear away whatever keeps that light hidden and turn again toward the One who formed us, breathes life into us, and leads us toward resurrection.
See you in church!
Peace, Love, and Grace,
Pastor Kevin
