Thursday, February 25

From “Sacramental Mud” by Barbara Brown Taylor

“That is mud, you fool! You are about to lie down in a tub full of mud!” But lie down I did, and it was like nothing I have ever felt. It was hot, and heavy, and smelled like the kind of bogs dinosaurs used to get stuck in. I found a rock underneath me with one hand and a stick with the other. I wondered where exactly this mud had been before it was around me. Then the M.B.A. [Mud Bath Assistant] came back in and raked more mud over us until we were both covered up to our chins. At first we laughed, but as the heat and weight got to us we grew more solemn, and I at least was conscious as never before of what it was like to be buried alive, to be lying naked under pounds and pounds of real dirt. From dust you came and to dust you shall return, I thought. This is what it means…

An excerpt from today’s sermon for the LENTEN VOICES SERMON SERIES led by Martha Langford. Bring your lunch and join the discussion at 12:00 NOON in JOHNSTON HALL.