Do Not Delay | Ash Wednesday
2.18.26 | Joel 2 | Fr. Ben Sharpe
I got a bit behind on these poems, so here is Ash Wednesday, and this will be quickly followed by the First and Second Sundays of Lent.
Content
I’ve focused in on the excellent metaphor Fr. Ben uses—we chase distractions in our sinfulness like a dog escaped from the house. Throughout this series on the basics of holiness, I am meditating on my default, gut attitude toward holiness; if I am honest, my gut feeling at the word holiness is that it is a standoffish, better-than-thou, unapproachable state. I am praying to have this gut-level attitude toward holiness morph. I want my definition of holiness to align with God’s—a life of holiness ought to be understood as a life deeply enmeshed in the vital, pure, rich love of the father for us and all his creation. Holiness is a realignment of our wayward selves into God’s good, true, beautiful vision for human flourishing. Holy does mean set apart, and so is in a sense, removed from the world—but it’s set apart from all that makes life ugly, evil, and false. It is very tempting to think that holiness is not hospitable. Or that holiness detaches us from “the real world.” I know these default attitudes in me are unexamined and from our culture, and not biblical, so I hope throughout these poems to try and meditate on what true, biblical holiness is, and how God invites us into a holiness that leads to life abundance, not only for us but for our families, neighbors, and communities.
Form
I shifted this poem into sets of three line stanzas mostly to force myself to condense my language. The version I wrote during the service had a lot of abstract ideas and extra descriptions, so I forced myself to package each main idea into a tighter space. There is not much else going on in terms of form. If I were to really try to improve this poem, I think I would try to minimize the abstract statements, and try to make as much of it in the concrete “runaway dog” metaphor.
Do Not Delay
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.Joel 2:12-13
We are a dog gotten loose,
flitting to every new smell,
unable to heed the call to come home.
Return, while yet you can
To where you belong.
It is better here with me.
I will not blush
when you tell me where you’ve been,
though you swore just yesterday to stay.
But I will insist
you belong in holiness,
bearing forth my heavenly likeness.
A holiness not stiff nor prude,
but a warming fire, good food, sweet sleep,
that you might go out fresh for the fight.
Return, like the dog got out
who hears his master’s trunk open
and fears to be left behind.
Return to your oldest love;
I will come close to you.
Cease to hide. Do not delay.