17 Feb 2010 :: Mount of Olives :: Jerusalem :: Sunset
Photos courtesy of Mark Holman
Sunset over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives on Ash Wednesday. Communion cups were set up in dirt and dust as we remembered not only that dust we are and to dust we shall return but also that there is life on the other side of death.
We ate root soup as inspired by Sara Miles' new book Jesus Freak:
The door is open, Anibal told the crowd, and God passes back and forth. We're here because of our ancestors, the ones who go before. We know we'll die too, but life itself goes on, God's body keeps breathing and we are part of that forever. Then he fed us soup.
"There's some regular food too, but this is liturgical food, made from roots," he explained, handing me a bowl of the steaming, thick stew. "Comes from the ground, where we're going. At some point someone else is gonna eat root soup, and there will little molecules of Sara in it." [1]
The Avett Brothers provided me the best soundtrack for Ash Wednesday that day, including this jewel:
I want to fit in to the perfect space, feel natural and safe in a volatile place. And I want to grow old without the pain give my body back to the earth and not complain. ...I want to have pride like my mama had and not like the kind in the bible that drives you mad. [2]
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[1] Sara Miles, Jesus Freak, page 138
[2] The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You, "Perfect Space".
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