aefenglommung (aefenglommung) wrote,
aefenglommung
aefenglommung

Good morning. Have you repented today?

Well, it's Ash Wednesday. Time to burn last year's palms for tonight's service. It's a wet, drizzly day, but I'm hoping for a dry span to do a little burning, since burning them inside the garage is not a good thing. In case you've never done it before, lemme tell you: burning palm leaves smell really strong, and the smell lingers.

I got asked yesterday if Lent was Latin or Greek or Hebrew or what. I replied it was Middle English. It's related to our modern word "lengthen." All the name implies is that the days are getting longer. One of the interesting things about the conversion of the ancient English is how deeply Christianity penetrated the culture. Christmastide, Whitsunday, Lent, even Easter are all derived from English; they sit side by side in our consciousness with Epiphany and Pentecost.

In other news, I decided to give up giving things up for Lent.
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