'Life is a journey from ash to ash': 'Clinically dead' person shares Ash Wednesday experience
MANILA, Philippines — I died on September 21, 2018.
Yes, you read that right. I was clinically dead for 6 minutes on that day in 2018 before the doctors were able to revive me. When I came out of my medically induced coma, the first thing a friend-priest asked when he visited me was if I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I didn’t see one. But I saw myself drowning. And while I was falling fast into the deep black abyss of the water, I saw someone walking on the water. I think that is an excellent topic to write for my next article.
What came out of that experience was a sort of an “Ash Wednesday” experience for me.
Let me clarify this by explaining what Ash Wednesday is for most Christians, and its deep symbolisms about faith and life itself, even for a non-believer.
Ash Wednesday signals the start of the season of Lent, the six weeks of penitence observed before Easter. On this day, Roman Catholics, and adherents of other Protestant denominations, attend liturgical services and receive blessed ash on their head or foreheads. While the ashes are administered, the minister says the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15) or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:19).
Ashes are remnants of the matter they used to be. Burn wood or cloth or even flesh, all that remains are ashes. The Bible beautifully reminds us how Adam and Eve, who were created by God from dust, and thus all of mankind, will return to dust as well.
During the Ash Wednesday Mass of 2013, the last public Mass he celebrated as pope, the late pope emeritus Benedict XVI said during his homily that Ash Wednesday starts our Lenten journey, “a journey that lasts forty days and leads us towards the joy of Easter, the victory of life over death."
The moment that I was having my near-death experience, I was bartering with God to give me a second chance at life, to spend more time with my wife and kids, to teach more students and to be of service to Him. Normally, in sticky situations, we would call upon our friends and connections to help us get through some tight situations. How many times did we make that proverbial phone call to ask a friend for a favor? How many times did we name drop a politician to help us get a favor or even be granted a pass for a traffic violation? Whatever material wealth we acquired in life doesn’t matter when one is at the precipice of death and judgement.
That is what my near-death experience taught me. Life is not all about our work, or about that latest gadget, shoes, or travel goals. Life is a journey.
The ashes placed on us do not only express a penitential act, but it symbolizes our mortality and ultimate end. Human ashes look like the ashes you see in a fireplace or grill. They look the same. This is the future for all of us.
But even though our ashes look the same, what makes our ashes different from each other is the name behind that ash. When people read the name on that tombstone, they do not just see the cremated remains. People will see the legacy you leave behind – the hungry people you fed, the thirsty whom you gave water to drink, the lonely man who you sat with to console, or the poor boy you patiently taught about the beauty and wonders this world has to offer. That is what ashes is all about. Maybe this is the reason why we have the expression “stay grounded” because it helps us stay connected to our origins.
Ash Wednesday is the gun start of our meditation of our journey towards Easter. May it also be our reflection to what life here on earth is all about.
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Rommel F. Lopez is associate editor of PressOne.ph and a contributing reporter of the CBCP Media Office. He teaches at the Master of Arts in Theology major in Social/Pastoral Communication program of the University of Santo Tomas. He is a Doctor of Communication student at the University of the Philippines – Open University.
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