Ash Wednesday

I am about to wash the makeup, and ashes, off of my face.

The priest was rather heavy handed with my cross, covering my forehead with a dark smattering of ashes.  Almost as if he knew that I wanted to fully experience what it felt like to publically declare myself as a Christian for the first time.

I ended up using a small piece of tissue to get some of the clumps and stray dust off, though.  It started to rain down my nose, which isn't such a great look.

I got some stares, a few quizzical looks, but I didn't let it get to me.  Norway is very secular and a large portion of the population, while made members of the Church of Norway through infant baptism, proclaim themselves as atheists.  At St. Olav's Catholic church today, where I received my sooty cross, I saw only a few that would qualify as ethnic Norwegians.


Today's photo, ashes and all!
(Please bear with me while I try to figure out the blog-Instagram interface!)


I don't feel very different.  I've worn this specific head covering before, but never longer than two days in a row.

I have said the Lord's prayer three times, with one more to go before bed.  I figured it would be best to start with something easy.  On Sunday, I will change to a different prayer method.  If anyone is reading this, leave me a comment with the prayer method I should use next week!

Mardi Gras

Today is apparently a day of festival.  Of indulgence.  Of letting everything go before 40 days of fasting.

But I find myself more excited for tomorrow than today.  Sure, I've already had some treats today, but I also just started my period last night and the sugar helps boost my energy.


However, this blog isn't about my body.  It's about my spirit.


I've heard some people criticize Mardi Gras.  They say it has no purpose or meaning, that it is nothing more than a day to be selfish and party.

But what if we look at it in context to Lent?  Lent is the long, slow walk to the cross.  Lent is, at the heart of it, about death.  Easter is about Jesus' resurrection, about rebirth and new life.  Could Mardi Gras then be celebration of the lives we have?


We are doomed to live in this world.  Enjoying some worldly pleasures, like food or music, is one way of being thankful for being alive.  Some people definitely go over the top, but today I will be thankful for being alive.  For being able to share my thoughts.  For being able to experiment with my faith.  For God being a part of my life.

The rules

The rules:

1. Wear a headcovering of some variety Sunday through Friday.  Lenten tradition allows for the fast to stop on Sundays.  But since I am also curious to see if/how my church experience changes as a result of the headcovering, my "free day" will be Saturday instead.
2. On Saturdays, I will always wear a scarf around my neck, a scarf that could be pulled over my head in the instance of prayer.
3. There will be morning, afternoon, and evening prayer.  Due to meetings and courses, these won't be at specific times every day but flexible within a certain time period.
4. There are six weeks before Easter.  The first five weeks will deal with going deep into one form of prayer: the Lord's prayer, the five-finger prayer, contemplative prayer, the Rosary, liturgical prayer (I've decided to use Common Prayer.)  The last week will involve me finding the best combination of these for me based on my experiences.  
5. I will take a picture and post my schedule for encouragement.  This isn't to say "look at me and my huge sacrifice."  This is to say "this is what I did and what I learned.  Maybe you can learn something from this as well."