Pr. Lauren Dow Wegner is the Senior Pastor of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Austin, TX. In her free time, she reflects on faith, life, and motherhood in her blog, Everyday Epiphanies.
Lingering Grace
Remember that you are dust. I can’t help but remember as the dust remains for a day or two under my thumbnail after Ash Wednesday.
This is one of the things that I love about being a pastor: the lingering. Dust under my nails from smearing ashes on foreheads all day–from the old to the babies.
The Baptism pages of my hymnal that are crinkly from years of water spilling on them. I can open my hymnal to the Baptism section with my eyes closed, because the pages feel noticeably different. Changed.
The tiniest droplet of wine on my white stole, that no one can see but me. I haven’t even worked on the stain, because it’s so tiny–and because it’s just special to me.
The bread crumbs that sometimes slip into my worship folder.
The Kleenex I have used to mop away my tears at funerals, stuffed back into my worship folder or the pocket of my robe, signs of the sacred emotions that spill out. I only find them in my dryer, thin and torn, after I wash my robe.
It’s the lingering that I love. Tangible reminders of my work and my calling, and of the people I am so blessed to serve.
Remember that you are dust. The black of ashes under my thumb helps me remember, even as my forehead is wiped clean at the end of the day.
Everything leaves a trace behind. . .and if we notice it, we remember.
