Thursday, March 5, 2009

Ash Wednesday Service Prompts Reflection on Life's Choices, by Zach Teves

Religion was in full force this fine morning and for a major holiday no less. The Ash Wednesday service had a shocking turn out at Evans Chapel—a mere eight or ten people, a priest, and a pile of ash to smear on the foreheads of those true believers. The service started quickly with the priest realizing no one else would be attending the early morning service. This did give him a chance to stare through the faces of the few people who managed to wake up in time after the Mardi Gras festivities of the prior night. As he spoke, he would look at each member of the audience for a steady five minutes individually. The engaging eye contact really allowed you to feel the language being spoken and, though it was slightly discomforting, was an important part of the service for all. Sitting through a service like this is rare, in that it provides an almost one on one feel with the preacher and the audience member. It creates the feeling of almost an oneness with the priest and seems to bring one closer to God.

As the service progressed, the priest became more vehement with his language, seeming to become more comfortable with the small audience. It was almost as if a professor was teaching his first class of the quarter and was still slightly uncomfortable at the beginning. As he warmed up, the audience began to perk up and pay more attention; there were no more awkward pauses or uncomfortably long stares, which the crowd seemed to appreciate. He spoke bible verses, preached psalms, yet avoided all hymns. He even spoke “Hosanna in the highest,” which is generally chanted at the very least.

As the preacher worked through the various required aspects of a church service, he came to the sermon. This point provides the preacher free rein to speak on whatever subject he feels is important with a generally unlimited (within good taste) amount of time. He chose the topic of the day to be each individual’s particular life choices. He felt that morality within society was slowly diminishing and he felt it was also a very important topic that needed to be addressed. As he started, he was vehement in speaking directly towards the few individuals that had showed up that particular early morning. Like earlier, he stared into each person’s soul, it seemed, and spoke with such force and passion, that one could feel the words, not just hear them. This was very effective in getting his point across. He addressed the war as a prime example of lack of morality within society and spoke most heavily on the economic downfalls and how corrupt people were to blame. His words almost seemed to be lyrics to a punk song throughout the sermon. He bashed the government, society in general, and many people in power. This was critically important in making his point, as this created the scene or problem and he, in turn, provided the answer. Jesus, God, the Bible, and religion in general were his answer to these terrible problems. He spoke of all the great works of God and the morality behind each choice that was described. He spoke of what the lowly mortals could do to live a moral life and what was required of each of us “diligent followers” in order to positively affect the situation.

As his sermon wound down, he closed the service quickly without hymn or even psalm. He instead chose a short prayer and dismissed those that attended with the message, “Go with God, and enjoy your day.” All in all, the service provided an almost Catholic atmosphere even though it was a Christian service. The preacher made many vehement points throughout and, without song, chant, and virtually without psalm, he managed to move his small audience. It was quite apparent in the facial expressions of those leaving the chapel that they were in deep thought on what had just been provided to them. He left the few followers in an almost palpable disbelief that, in such a short amount of time, so many important things could be addressed. The crowd dispersed quickly upon exiting the chapel and I followed suite, but it was quite apparent that everyone had been changed, even if it was just in thought.

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