Palms Transfigured Into Ashes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today's the day that everyone lists what they gave up for Lent (I'm taking on time for\u00a0lectio divina and giving up going to bed after 1am), but , for me,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/02\/palms-transfigured-into-ashes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Palms Transfigured Into Ashes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today's the day that everyone lists what they gave up for Lent (I'm taking on time for\u00a0lectio divina and giving up going to bed after 1am), but , for me,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/02\/palms-transfigured-into-ashes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unequally Yoked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-13T21:59:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-13T22:00:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/84\/2013\/02\/PALM-CROSSES.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/02\/palms-transfigured-into-ashes.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/02\/palms-transfigured-into-ashes.html\",\"name\":\"Palms Transfigured Into Ashes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-13T21:59:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-13T22:00:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\"},\"description\":\"Today's the day that everyone lists what they gave up for Lent (I'm taking on time for\u00a0lectio divina and giving up going to bed after 1am), but , for me,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/02\/palms-transfigured-into-ashes.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/02\/palms-transfigured-into-ashes.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/02\/palms-transfigured-into-ashes.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Palms Transfigured Into Ashes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/\",\"name\":\"Unequally Yoked\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\",\"name\":\"Leah Libresco\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Leah Libresco\"},\"description\":\"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. 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{"id":7000,"date":"2013-02-13T16:59:11","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T21:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=7000"},"modified":"2013-02-13T17:00:09","modified_gmt":"2013-02-13T22:00:09","slug":"palms-transfigured-into-ashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/02\/palms-transfigured-into-ashes.html","title":{"rendered":"Palms Transfigured Into Ashes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s the day that everyone lists what they gave up for Lent (I\u2019m taking on time for\u00a0 lectio divina<\/em><\/a> and giving up going to bed after 1am), but , for me, the more moving sacrifice happened this weekend, on the last Sunday in Ordinary Time.<\/p>\n

I changed my mind about Christianity<\/a> the night before Palm Sunday<\/a> last year, so I\u2019ve never experienced Ash Wednesday as a believer before. \u00a0The first Mass I went to as a Christian was the jubilant Palm Sunday, the welcoming of Christ into Jerusalem and the beginning of Holy Week<\/a>. \u00a0I went to church, recieved a blessing and a palm, and got on a train that took me away from New Haven and the only three people in the world who knew I wasn\u2019t an atheist anymore.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s traditional to weave the palms distributed at church into crosses or other holy symbols, and to put them up in your house. \u00a0Although I was a bit jittery, I made sure to keep my palm cross safe on the whole journey home \u2014 by Amtrak and metro \u2014 and hung it up in a corner of my room, wondering when I would tell my housemates what had happened.<\/p>\n

The ashes that are distributed on Ash Wednesday are made by burning the palms that are blessed and distributed the previous year. \u00a0So, I took my cross off the wall and brought it back to my parish church, for the last service I would attend there before the move. \u00a0When I handed my palm back to the deacon, and told him why it has sentimental value, he looked concerned. \u00a0\u201cYou don\u2019t\u00a0have<\/em> to return it. \u00a0They can be burnt or they can be kept; either is allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I\u00a0wanted<\/em> to give it back. \u00a0Perhaps it was the influence of the recent readings from Daily Mass from the book of Samuel where Hannah prays desperately for a son, and then, when he is born, gives him up as a priest; returning to God what she has been given.<\/p>\n

She reminded me of\u00a0Kierkegaard\u2019s description of the Knight of Faith in Fear and Trembling<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0I don\u2019t think I quite understood Kierkergaard or his mouthpieces, but his image of the paradoxical Knight of Faith<\/a>\u00a0was arresting. \u00a0I can\u2019t help but picture a knight in full armor and toe shoes who makes some kind of terrifying leap of faith and, in the words of Douglas Adams, misses the ground<\/a>. \u00a0He remains suspended, somewhat precariously, but sustained and altered by his faith.<\/p>\n

Lent isn\u2019t a time of suffering for the sake of suffering. \u00a0It\u2019s a choice to be discomfited and pass through a crucible so that we can be transfigured. \u00a0Last year, at the turning of the liturgical year, I was given a gift. \u00a0When I return it, I\u2019m not casting it off, but relaxing my grasp so that it, like me, can \u201c suffer a sea-change, into something rich and strange<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"