With ashes in hand, the Rev. Jonathan Hopkins of Concordia Lutheran Church was eager to bless anyone who passed by on Main Street Wednesday.
A few members of the midday crowd recognized him, or Kate Harmon-Siberine, the rector of Grace Episcopal Church in East Concord, or the Rev. Kate Atkinson from St. Paul’s Church as they made the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the willing.
Others, like a bus driver and a few teenagers, were unaware of the ceremonial Ash Wednesday blessing marking the first day of Lent.
Whether they were a familiar face or a complete stranger didn’t matter to the trio of clergy members.
“We’re here today to give out ashes to people who either might want to go to church tonight but can’t attend the service for some reason or just people who are walking by who don’t even know they need a blessing this day and need a little something to pick them up and God to be in their life,” Hopkins said. “So we’re just here to offer that to people who are church people and people who aren’t church people, people who just need God.”
The downtown “Ashes to Go” blessing lasted from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Atkinson didn’t bring enough ashes and needed to ask Harmon-Siberine for a refill, who was happy to oblige.
Atkinson said using ashes to make the sign of the cross is a reminder of human mortality, that “we came out of nothing and we will return to nothing.”
“We need to be reminded that we always have work to do, to become the people that God intended us to be, and that we don’t have all the time in the world to do it,” Atkinson said. “That day will come. We don’t know when.”
During Lent, some Christians give up certain foods or luxury items, others take on a new spiritual practice. The purpose is to gain greater introspection, and awareness of how to self-improve, Atkinson said.
Beyond spreading ashes and blessings, the ministers hoped their intentional public display might bolster a larger spirit of unity.
“We’re all children of God, regardless what church we go to or what the nomination we go to, or even what people we are so, or what political views we have or what race we are, or anything else in the world that seems to always try to divide us in these little corners,” Hopkins said. “But I think, ultimately, we’re, we’re all just human beings. And that’s what Ash Wednesday reminds us of, that we’re human, and that no matter how rich or poor or anything in between, we all are dust, and to dust we all shall return.”