The Great Equalizer: You are dust and to dust you shall return

Ash Wednesday was just two days ago and at every service there was the haunting phrase hanging in the background: You are dust and to dust you shall return, as ashes were smudged on the foreheads of the faithful.

The words were oddly out of place when the recipient was a child, even more so for a baby. The words were poignant when the recipient was mature in years. Yet no matter the age, the words are the great equalizer. And no matter the station in life, the wealth or poverty, gender, gender expression/identity, sexual orientation or other characteristic, we all return to the dust.

The words used when ashes are imposed are from Genesis 3:19, based on the words spoken to Adam and Eve after their sin and eviction from the Garden of Eden: you are dust and to dust you shall return. No one escapes this fate. All of us eventually return to the dust. Obviously as “Easter people” we look to the resurrection, however and whenever that occurs. But that is on the “other end” of Lent.

I wonder how often (or even if) those in power, political power or otherwise, ever ponder those words that spell out their ultimate fate. I wonder the same of those who treat others so callously or badly. The great equalizer will be the fate of those who try to remove the safety nets from the poor - however meager those safety nets might be. The great equalizer will inflict itself on those who practice racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and yes even on those who perpetrate sexual assault - no matter how long or how hard they try to hide what they have done. The great equalizer will prevail.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., warned us that we must learn to live together as siblings or we would surely perish together as fools.

A former bishop of Alabama, whose name long ago escaped from my memory, was also brutally direct when he said: If we believe what we profess, we had better learn to get along because we will be with each other for eternity. Ponder that for a moment, both from your perspective and then from that of those who would treat us as second class members of the church and society. Eternity. Together.

The great equalizer: We are all subject to its declaration that we are dust and to dust we shall return.

If you have taken on my challenge to make your Lenten discipline contacting all who represent you in secular government and those who have been charged to be your pastor(s), you might, perhaps as an ice breaker, remind them that they, just like you, are from dust and they, like you, will return to dust.

Yes my kindred, there is indeed a great equalizer and all are subject to it.

Amid the somberness of Ash Wednesday, we endured yet another poignant example of our inhumanity to each other with the Parkland High School (Florida) mass shooting. Pray for the all the victims of that senseless tragedy: the dead, the wounded and even the perpetrator. And pray that we will come to our senses and stop allowing perversions of the intent of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution to cloud our judgement about controlling guns whose only purpose is to kill the children of God. I don’t think this was the time intended for the work of the great equalizer… it was far too soon, at least in my mind.

I wish each of you a blessed, holy and productive Lent.

Bruce Garner, President

Integrity USA ... The Episcopal Rainbow

Lent Approaches

This is the last Friday before Lent begins on February 14. As we approach the Lenten season, I am reminded of how Lent was viewed decades ago in my youth and young adulthood: The question was always “What are you giving up for Lent?” I sometimes did give something up for Lent. On the occasion of several Lents I vowed to give up profanity. Well that generally lasted barely until the Second Sunday of Lent. The colorful language just managed to slip in despite my best efforts.

At some point I became aware of another nature of Lent, namely that of taking on some discipline or activity for those forty days. It could be daily prayer, self-improvement, reading specific literature or pretty much any activity that could be considered productive and helpful for the season. I got “hooked” on the value of the Daily Office after a Lent when I took on the discipline of praying Morning Prayer each morning. It stuck.My day begins with prayer following that model.

We seem to be living in a time of little discipline, at least on the part of our elected leaders. Accountability seems to be a “nice idea” rather than something that should be expected and demanded. The wind blows and the position changes. The wind blows and another change. Little thought is given to the impact of such “flexible” thinking on the lives of millions of people.

I urge you to take on some discipline(s) during the upcoming Lenten season. I urge you to make one of your disciplines to be contacting your elected representatives on a very regular basis sharing your thoughts and ideas and how you honestly feel about some of their positions on issues that have a direct impact on you as an LGBTQ+ follower of Jesus Christ. And I urge you to use that language. Make sure they know that you are a person of faith, part of the Jesus Movement.Be persistent. Lent has 40 days. Contact your elected representatives at least one fourth of those days. (Each of the 40 days would be great, but hey, I will take what I can get!)

Elected officials do not hear from nearly enough of their constituents. Often they only hear the harsh meanness of the religious right. Let them hear a more moderate expression of faith. It helps those who need reinforcement. It might convict others to change their thinking. So get out your personal devices, laptops, and desktops and email, tweet, text or whatever form of communication gets you going. Who knows, some might even write an actual letter and mail it!

Don’t forget to include your religious leaders as well. If you are in one of the infamous non-marriage eight, contact your bishop during Lent and point out the pain his position is causing for you and those close to you. Make it a part of your discipline for the season to be in regular contact with your bishop… maybe even your commission on ministry or standing committee… whoever it is who needs to hear from you. Make it a discipline.

I wish each of you a blessed, holy and productive Lent.

Bruce Garner, President

Integrity USA ... The Episcopal Rainbow