Would you pray with a total stranger?
I mean really. Would you roll down your window… look someone in the eye… and let them mark your forehead with ash?
It feels risky. Vulnerable. A little wild.
And yet look at this. Cars wrapped around 12 Mile. Blinkers flashing. People with meetings to get to, kids to pick up, emails piling up. And still they wait. For ashes. For prayer. For a moment.
There is something deeply brave about that.
Ash Wednesday is not about religious guilt. It is about holy honesty.
Reflection is that sacred pause where you stop running long enough to remember who you are. And whose you are. Before the job title. Before the mistakes. Before the expectations. You are dust, yes. But you are beloved dust. And that changes everything.
Repentance is not about shame. It is about courage. It is the bold decision to say, “I’ve wandered.” And then to trust that God is not standing there with crossed arms but with open ones.
Repentance is a pivot. A recalibration. A turning of the heart back toward Love.
And what moves me every year is this: people show up carrying so much. Stress. Grief. Uncertainty. Regret. Hope they’re almost afraid to name. And they still pull forward. They still say yes to prayer from someone they have never met.
That is not weakness.
That is faith.
Faith that God meets us right here. In traffic lines. In ordinary Wednesdays. In the mess and beauty of our actual lives.
So let me ask you: what would honesty look like for you today? Where have you drifted just a little? What needs to be named so it can be healed?
If ashes and prayer would help, come on down to Southfield. We are here.
And if you mark this day in another way, that’s okay too. There are many ways to begin again. Many ways to be brave.
Grace is not scarce.
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