Prairie Musings

This will be the tenth year I have been providing Ashes-on-the-Go in Elmwood Park near the entrance to UNO. I thought it would be a right and good thing to share my thoughts on this practice with my All Saints Church family. Fr. Keith and Archdeacon Betsy First, a note on what Ashes-on-the-Go is not—it is not an attempt to replace the regular Ash Wednesday liturgy and Eucharist that we have at church. We offer four services throughout the day, 7 AM, 12:10, 5 and 7 PM. Committed church-goers should be attending one of those, worshipping in community and supporting each other. As Scott Gunn, director of Forward Movement , says, Ashes -on-the-Go “is for seekers and, perhaps, wayward Christians. It’s really an invitation…to realize that all that glitters is not our salvation…[It] doesn't short-circuit the practice of committed Christians, but rather expands the circle to include borderline practitioners and seekers.” I can tell you stories of encounters over the years: The fr...

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world” (Matt 5:13a, 14a). My son Bobby had a piano competition all day Saturday. It’s a big event, with hundreds of kids from all around the city who take piano lessons. There are eight categories, like identifying chords, site reading, music theory, and performance. The organizers do everything they can to make it a fun event—it’s actually called the “Fun Fair.” It’s a wonderful thing, and I’m very grateful for all of the teachers and parent volunteers who work really hard to make it happen, to make it fun for kids to play and learn about music. This might be one of those “participation award” events, where you get a ribbon just for showing up. The participation award mentality is what Isaiah is scolding Israel about in today’s Old Testament reading. Here’s just a bit of background: The single book of Isaiah in our Bibles, we think, was written by at least three different authors, over the span of 200 or ...