And She Kissed Me Like She Meant It

On Ash Wednesday, many folk in the Christian tradition walk around with an ashen crosses on our foreheads.  We are reminded that humankind, in the narrative form, comes from dusty earth and it is there we will return.  One of the stories goes that God saw that the earth needed a lover, ones who will care for it and cultivate it, so God scooped up some dust and breathed into it.

God kissed us into existence. God's breath mixed with that which would be our own. God recognized that our breath was caught in our throats because we could feel God so close to us and we longed for it.  God released us from that tangled and mangled state into fullness.  A kiss is what brought humankind into its most authentic and original state.  God had breath to share and had to teach us how to gasp it in.  Dust cannot just be formed into the shape of persons and expected to live.  God had to teach us, God had to show us.

On Ash Wednesday, Christians acknowledge that moment of intimacy as part of our narrative.  We remember that God kissed our bodies into being, God shared His breath with us and our spirits grew from that longing.  If it is to dust we shall return when our days on this earth have finished, I pray that God will kiss me again.  I pray that the life I am leading as I walk this ground, the breath that I share so closely with lovers, will help me recognize God when She kisses me again, welcoming my body into the safety of dust.