Today is Ash Wednesday, and for the first time ever, I decided to attend an Ash
Wednesday service aboard the ship. Protestant churches (at least all the ones I’ve been to) 
don’t tend to make too big of a deal out of this particular occasion (after all, Good Friday 
and Easter are the real reasons why we celebrate this season), but nevertheless it did feel 
pretty good to be humbly reminded of the start of the Lenten season. Our chaplain began 
the service by reading from Matthew 6:1-8, which in my opinion was a very ballsy move. 
On a day that is devoted to outward observances, he decided to slam the part-timers with 
a reminder that rubbing smudges on your head does not make you a good Christian. If I 
didn’t respect the chaplain before, I certainly do now.

I was meditating on that thought later when I happened to notice this link posted in my 
facebook news feed by a friend. Mildly curious, I decided to read along and see what the 
Catholic perspective on this matter was. By the time I was midway through the article, I 
had to resist the urge to throw my monitor across the room. If you actually take the time 
to read it, you will certainly notice some very troubling language. Allow me to give you a 
small excerpt (with emphases added).

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“To foster the spirit of penance and of reparation for sin, to encourage self-denial, and 
to guide us in the footsteps of Jesus, Church law requires the observance of fast and 
abstinence (CCC 1249-1253).

1. Abstinence: All persons who have already celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to 
abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent.

2. Fasting: Everyone, from the celebration of their 18th birthday to their 59th birthday, is 
bound to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Voluntary fasting on other weekdays 
of Lent, especially on Wednesdays and Fridays, is highly recommended. Fasting is 
generally understood to mean eating one full meal each day. Two other partial meals, 
sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken; but together they should not equal another 
full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids are allowed...”

While the avowed intent of these prescriptions is to foster a spirit of repentance and self-
denial, the implementation of so many rules and restrictions reeks to me of Pharisaic 
legalism. I once wrote a post about the importance which Jesus placed on honoring man-made rules concerning religious observances. As you can clearly see from Matthew 12, 
such rules carried virtually no weight with Jesus at all. Any organization composed of 
human beings is, by default, filled with sin and error. Why anyone would allow a church 
to claim such sacrosanct authority over their life is simply beyond me.

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As I continue to read The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I’m becoming 
more and more impressed by his resolutely Christocentric doctrine. Bonhoeffer believed 
that any person, group, organization, or nation who claimed “immediacy” (meaning 
loyalty) over God must be despised for the sake of the Gospel. Jesus Christ, Bonhoeffer 
said, was and is the ONLY mediator who stands between us and a holy God, and his 
sacrifice alone is what gives us forgiveness of our sins. Anyone else who would call for 
our loyalties must be made to understand that their approval or disapproval is worthless 
in the eyes of a truly Christ-centered believer. In Bonhoeffer’s own time this battle for 
immediacy was made manifest in the form of a government which required that the 
Fuehrer be worshipped above any other religious figure. Rather than quietly acquiesce 
to the new “German-Christian” movement started by the Nazi regime, Bonhoeffer and 
many other principled clergymen came together to form the “Confessing Church,” an 
anti-Nazi church movement, which eventually caused Bonhoeffer and many of his friends 
and family to be shipped off to concentration camps.

No human being, whether they wear a pointy hat, a white collar, or an American flag, 
is allowed to claim your loyalty. Jesus Christ alone is the King of Kings and the Lord 
of Lords, and he does not share his glory with anyone. If your relationship with God is 
moving in the right direction, you should have no fear standing up to the earthly forces 
which would seek to intimidate you into bowing in obedience. Paul himself said, “I 
consider all things a loss for the sake of knowing Him who saved me.”

Finally, on a positive note, I was very happy with the results of the Ash Wednesday 
service for one very important reason. Even though I couldn’t care less about the outward 
appearance of piety, it still felt somewhat nice (in an awkward kind of way) to know that 
every person I passed by today was staring at my forehead. Some tried to tell me that I 
had dirt on my head. Others, who may have recognized the symbol, simply gave me a 
knowing glance. In any case, I had a wonderful conversation piece which did in fact lead 
to several spiritual conversations throughout the rest of my day. Of all the labels that 
one might choose to wear in life, whether they are patriot, anarchist, conformist, anti-
authoritarian, or any other, there is in fact only one label that will set you apart on the day 
of God’s judgment: Christian.

Once upon a time, I wrote an article about a massive wildfire which threatened my
family’s home when I was younger. I still to this day can picture the evening when my 
brother and I sat on the roof of our house, looking out ominously over the neighborhood 
as fires burned across the hillsides surrounding us. The orange swaths which cut across 
the darkened hills seemed to stretch on for miles all around us, and the smell of smoke 
filled the air for weeks. Fortunately, we were not among the many thousands in the 
outlying parts of the county who had to evacuate their homes. Even though the fires raged 
all around us, ultimately we were saved by God’s grace.

Psalm 91 is a famous passage which offers protection and reassurance to those who 
trust in the Name of the LORD Most High. Is says, in part, “If you say, ‘The LORD is 
my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no 
disaster will come near your tent.” While many of us cling to this promise during times of 
testing and hardship, how often during times of peace and prosperity does it casually slip 
to the back of our minds?

My cousin Sergio served as a Marine Corps infantryman in Afghanistan. Before he left, 
our whole family covered him in countless hours of prayer, and gave him numerous 
reminders of the promise of Psalm 91. Upon his return, not only were we overjoyed to 
see him home safely (praise God), but he also had numerous stories to tell us about the 
supernatural protection of God in the midst of untold danger and hardship. One particular 
story, which I want to be sensitive about sharing, involved a miraculous deliverance from 
death. His patrol was caught in the open when they were ambushed by Taliban fighters, 
and while most of the platoon was able to sprint to safety, he and a few at the tail of the 
column were isolated on open ground. Right then, one Taliban fighter popped up with 
a rocket-propelled grenade and fired. Sergio said that in that very moment, he resigned 
himself to death, saying silently, “LORD, here I come.” At that moment, as the rocket 
was screaming toward him and his fellow marines, it very suddenly took a nosedive and 
hit the dirt harmlessly a few dozen yards in front of them.

Over and over throughout the deployment, Sergio was faced with death and destruction 
all around him, and the prayer of Psalm 91 became very literal. Yet time and again, when 
death seemed about to close in around him and his fellow Marines, the LORD came 
through with all kinds of grace at the exact moment it was needed.

When you’re in a life or death situation, it becomes very natural to depend on God, 
because who else can save you when bullets are flying? Yet in our daily lives, we all 
too often are faced with less-than-life-threatening situations, and somehow forget that 
the same God who moves bullets also moves the daily hardships out of your life as well. 
While Sergio has since gotten out of the Corps and moved on with his life, he will be the 
first to tell you that he has never forgotten the lessons of Afghanistan, or that fact that any 
problem he encounters in civilian life is far less serious than anything he faced overseas. 
Living on the edge with God for a while has a way of turning down the volume on all of 
your normal problems.

If today you’re encountering a situation which seems life-altering and dire to you, 
remember that fires may rage, and seas may roar and foam, but your GOD is with you 
like a mighty warrior with a hedge of protection.

Whatever else you’re trusting in for stability, whether it be a government, a relationship, 
a plan for your future, or anything else that seems to provide reassurance in your 
life, remember that one day that thing will burn to ashes. Yet the LORD will remain 
throughout the ages, and his peace will follow you in the midst of the uprooting and the 
tearing down of all that you hold dear.

My devotion reading this week has focused intensely on Jeremiah. One theme that has 
been made clear to me over and over again is that no system or government established 
by man is immune to the decree of the LORD, and when he decrees disaster, it will fall. 
Although the LORD spends the first 30ish chapters of Jeremiah prophesying destruction 
and uprooting for Israel, yet in Jeremiah 31 he begins to remind them of his loving 
kindness, and he promises that he will be with them still, even in the midst of destruction.

One thing I learned from the disaster that was my last relationship is that, at the bottom 
of everything, when all you had hoped for and trusted in lies in ashes, God will still be 
there. He is more present in that situation than he ever could be when you’re surrounded 
by false pretenses of security.

Burn it all down, and then you’ll see that God is still God when nothing else is left 
standing. Don’t fear the fires on the hillside, for “he who dwells in the shelter of the Most 
High will rest in the shadow of the wings of the Almighty.”

“Remain in me,” says Jesus, “and I will remain in you.”