• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

DONATE
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Our Bloggers
    • ESN Writing Inquiries
    • Commenting Policy
  • Reading Lists
  • Scholar’s Compass
    • Scholar’s Compass Discussion Guide
    • Scholar’s Compass Posts
    • Scholar’s Compass Booklet
  • Connect
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Donate
    • Contact Us
Home » Lent begins today: Ash Wednesday

Lent begins today: Ash Wednesday

March 9, 2011 by Tom Grosh IV Leave a Comment

“The Business of Heaven” cover

What cannot be admitted — what must exist only as an undefeated but daily resisted enemy — is the idea of something that is ‘our own’, some area in which we are to be ‘out of school’, on which God has no claim. … I do not think any efforts of my own will can end once and for all this craving for limited liabilities, this fatal reservation.   Only God can.   I have good faith and hope He will.   Of course, I don’t mean that I can therefore, as they say, ‘sit back’.   What God does for us, He does in us.   The process of doing it will appear to me (and not falsely) to be the daily or hourly repeated exercises of my own will in renouncing this attitude, especially each morning, for it grows all over me like a new shell each night.   Failures will be forgiven; it is acquiescence that is fatal, the permitted, regularized presence of an area in ourselves which we still claim for our own.   We may never, this side of death, drive the invader out of our territory, but we must be in the Resistance, not in the Vichy government.   And this, so far as I can yet see, must be begun again every day.   Our morning prayers should be that in the Imitation:   Da hodie perfecte incipere — grant me to make an unflawed beginning today, for I have done nothing yet. — Ash Wednesday reading in The Business of Heaven:   Daily Readings from C.S. Lewis (C.S. Lewis, Walter Hooper. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1984). From C.S. Lewis’ last sermon, “A Slip of the Tongue” (Oxford in a small chapel in Evensong. Jan. 29, 1956), available in full in Weight of Glory (C.S. Lewis. HarperCollins. 2001).

In the beginning of 2011, I picked up The Business of Heaven with a men’s discussion group at my home congregation. Thank-you John!   I pass along this resource as a recommended reading, join me any time of the year and feel free to share your thoughts on Facebook or via email 🙂   By-the-way, the first paragraph of the Lewis quote in Lenten Preparations: A Time of Contrition serves as the February 23 reading in The Business of Heaven.

PS. Ash Wednesday Prayer  2011 (Christine Sine. 3/4/2011) and Another Prayer for Ash  Wednesday (Christine Sine. 3/8/2011).

Tom Grosh IV
Tom Grosh IV

Tom enjoys daily conversations regarding living out the Biblical Story with his wife Theresa and their four girls, around the block, at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church (where he teaches adult electives and co-leads a small group), among healthcare professionals as the Northeast Regional Director for the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), and in higher ed as a volunteer with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). For a number of years, the Christian Medical Society / CMDA at Penn State College of Medicine was the hub of his ministry with CMDA. Note: Tom served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA for 20+ years, including 6+ years as the Associate Director of ESN. He has written for the ESN blog from its launch in August 2008. He has studied Biology (B.S.), Higher Education (M.A.), Spiritual Direction (Certificate), Spiritual Formation (M.A.R.), Ministry to Emerging Generations (D.Min.). To God be the glory!

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • More
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Filed Under: Christ and the Academy, Resources for ESN Members Tagged With: A Slip of the Tongue, Ash Wednesday, C. S. Lewis, Christine Sine, Godspace, lent, Prayer, The Business of Heaven

Reader Interactions

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Become a Member

Membership is Free. Sign up and receive our monthly newsletter and access ESN member benefits.

Join ESN Today

Scholar’s Compass Booklet

Scholar's Compass Booklet

Click here to get your copy

Top Posts

  • The Message of Genesis 1
  • Faith and Reason, Part 2: Augustine
  • Does Genesis 1 Teach Modern Science?
  • Book Review: The Problem of Pain
  • A Prayer for Campus Ministries and Churches

Facebook Posts

Facebook Posts

Footer

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Recent Posts

  • ESN Focus Groups – Sign Up and Share Your Ideas!
  • Sharing the Scholar’s Journey
  • Science Corner: “From a Certain Point of View”

Article Categories

Footer Logo
© 2025 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®. All rights reserved.
InterVarsity, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, and the InterVarsity logo are trademarks of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and its affiliated companies.

Member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us