Ash Wednesday: A Poem
by Jim Burklo | 5 March 2025 |
On my forehead,
A sign of the cross,
Smudged in ash from the fire
That burned down the McMansion of my hubris,
And, with it,
The money I should have given away,
The electronic screens I used to numb my senses,
The carpet I should have been called on,
The doors I should have opened to others,
The envelopes I should have used
To send letters of love,
The wise books I shelved prominently
So that others would think I had read them,
The blank places in my photo albums
Where my darker moments should have been remembered,
The calendars where visits with the people who needed me most
Should have been scheduled,
The couch of my complacency,
The lounge-chair of my laziness,
The shirts I stuffed with my pride,
The moccasins I should have traded with others
So we could have walked miles in them.
On my forehead,
A sign of the crossroad
Where I can turn from the way of ruin
To the way of life.
Jim Burklo is an ordained United Church of Christ pastor. In 2022 he retired after 14 years as the Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California. He now serves as pastor of the United Church of Christ in Simi Valley, California. He also serves as executive director of Progressive Christians Uniting/ZOE: Progressive Christian Life on Campus, a national network of progressive Christian campus ministry groups. Jim is the author of seven published books on progressive faith: the latest is Tenderly Calling: An Invitation to the Way of Jesus (St Johann Press, 2021). His weekly blog, “Musings,” has a global audience. Jim and his wife, Roberta, live in Ojai, California.
