"Ashes" by Jonathan Rundman (Ash Wednesday)

Connect with Scripture: Psalm 51:1-13
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.


Today’s Song: “Ashes” by Jonathan Rundman, from the album, Sound Theology - Disc One)
i got ashes on my forehead
and i'm trying hard to learn
this dust that i have started from
is where i shall return
and i will follow out of love
'cause there is nothing i can earn
i got ashes on my forehead
and i'm trying hard to learn

sometime in the dead of winter
this Wednesday rolls around
we got purple on the altar
we got snow upon the ground
and this world starts spinning slower
and we sing some quiet songs
facing our mortality
and all that we done wrong

i got ashes on my forehead
and i'm trying hard to learn
this dust that i have started from
is where i shall return
and i will follow out of love
'cause there is nothing i can earn
i got ashes on my forehead
and i'm trying hard to learn

forty days in the wilderness
forty days on the ark
driving home this evening
i can still trace the mark
everybody sees the big sun setting
everybody rides the hearse
yeah, but you can't build up nothin'
'til you knock down somethin' first

i got ashes on my forehead
and i'm trying hard to learn
this dust that i have started from
is where i shall return
and i will follow out of love
'cause there is nothing i can earn
i got ashes on my forehead
and i'm trying hard to learn

Lowell Michelson: drums
Matt Marohl: pedal steel
Beki Hemingway: vocals
Jonathan: drum loop, acoustic guitar, bass, tambourine, electric guitar, mandolin, vocals

Jonathan’s comment on “Ashes”
Written during Lent 2000. Lent is my favorite season of the church year, and I especially appreciate Ash Wednesday, the beginning of this 40 day journey to Easter. I’m kind weird though. . .I find that many people (especially youth) hate Lent. Not “fun” enough for ‘em I guess.

Jonathan’s Questions to Ponder
Do you know what Lent is?
Have you ever observed the season?
What do you think of it?

Behind the Music
1. Chorus, what is the connection Jonathan makes between ashes and death?
2. Ashes remind us of our sin. What does Psalm 51 make you remember about your sin?
3. Stanza 1, what is the setting for the beginning of Lent?
4. Stanza 1, what is the mood of Lent? What contributes to that mood?
5. Chorus, what does this line mean: “and i will follow out of love/'cause there is nothing i can earn”?
6. Stanza 2, why connect Ash Wednesday with the 40 days in the wilderness (the temptation of Jesus)?
7. Stanza 2, why connect it with the 40 days on the ark?
8. Stanza 2, Jonathan says he can still trace the mark of the cross as he drives home. What phrases from Psalm 51 could you repeat to yourself when you wash the ashes off your forehead as a reminder of what God does with our sin?
9. Stanza 2, what does this mean: “yeah, but you can't build up nothin''til you knock down somethin' first”?
10. Chorus, what is Jonathan saying he is trying hard to learn? How does Psalm 51 help with this?

Lyrics, comments, and questions reprinted with the kind permission of Jonathan Rundman.

Jonathan wrote these songs with an eye to the Lutheran Book of Worship appointed readings for each week of the church year but has told me that he does not necessarily connect a specific reading with each song. Therefore, the reading I have selected to use for reflection is my choice and not Jonathan's.

Click here to find out about Jonathan Rundman or his record label, Salt Lady Records
Click here to read my review of Sound Theology.