Last Wednesday, I finally got to celebrate a Glitter + Ashes Ash Wednesday. I’ve wanted to do it for years, but hadn’t had the opportunity. I think that my relationship with Lent has been changing the last few years, and now was the right time to express a sparkly ash experience. This is not Lent 101, but instead, it’s a reflection on a few deeper topics around Lent that I’ve been thinking about. Here’s some things to consider for Lent 2026:
Darkness is good.
Lent brings on a natural ‘wandering in the dark’ mood. Wandering in the dark can be intimidating, vulnerable, and freakin’ scary. In some congregations, they have the Lent tradition of extinguishing the candles, like a liturgical countdown to Easter. I both love and hate this tradition. I love it because it makes so much sense, liturgically: Lent is leading us to the darkness of the tomb, the grief of Good Friday; and then we turn all the lights back on Easter morning. So why would I hate it? It feels like we’re walking toward our own tomb. Yes, grief is a part of Lent. But it shouldn’t feel like a trudge.
As someone who is afraid of the dark, it’s important that I reframe the darkness. A couple years ago, I realized that despite the reflective nature of Lent, it is still a communal activity. As we walk the Lenten journey, we are reminded to listen for God’s voice in the quiet. When all the lights are on, we see everything, and everything is distracting. And so as we continue to move deeper into the Lent experience, we extinguish a little bit of light at a time. One candle a week. We don’t want to be plunged into darkness – that would be unsettling and cause anxiety. And so we turn the lights off a little at a time. We know our community is still with us. Each week, we blow out a candle together, inviting us to see less of the world and look more into ourselves, looking for that light of God that is in us.
Ashes are a black hole for glitter.
I put the palm ashes into the bowl, dumped purple glitter in, and stirred. The glitter immediately disappeared. I guess I didn’t use enough glitter? So I dumped in more purple glitter and stirred. Where did all that glitter go? It just disappeared! I added more than double the glitter this time. Gone. Just a few sparkles in the dust. I used at least 3 times the glitter to ashes, and I could hardly see them in my bowl. The ashes just seemed to coat the glitter pieces. It didn’t matter how much glitter I used, they disappeared into the ashes, like a black hole. I called over a friend – “My glitter!” But she looked in the bowl and said, “I see the sparkle. It’s there.” She stirred it more and repeatedly reassured me, “It’s there.” I looked in the bowl again. Could I see the giant pieces of purple glitter? No. Was there sparkle in the ash? Yes, like stars in the night’s sky. I breathed, realizing that the sparkle has to be with the ash, it can’t just be a glitter cross on my forehead.
The ashes remind us of our own mortality, the suffering of life, and the consequences of our choices. The glitter is meant to represent the spark of life, hope, and a witness for justice. In that bowl were both the ashes of repentance and the glitter of God’s shining love. My favorite part of the worship was reminding the people in attendance that, “You come from dust. You return to dust. And in between, you glitter in holy light.” As I marked them on their hand or their forehead, the ashes were the body of the cross, but as they moved – as they lived – the sparkle of hope could be seen.
Lent is a walk for justice.
What comes to mind when you say, “It’s Lent”? Fasting and praying, and maybe fish on Fridays. But the prayers and the fasting are meant to lead you to practice justice. Lenten fasting is supposed to remind you of the people who go without, but not by choice. What are we doing to walk in solidarity with the poor, the hungry, the houseless, the displaced? Also, when fasting, we reduce our waste and are more intentional with our choices. Remember that Lent is a communal activity. In our Lenten prayers, may we remember that we are called to live in right relationship with our neighbors.