Douglas Hickey

Friends,

They’re not widely observed in the church anymore, but I like the Ember Days.

The name seems so evocative. It conjures images of glowing coals and dying light—mortality pregnant with the possibility of rebirth. 

The actual etymology of “Ember Days” has nothing to do with small fire; it likely comes from a colloquialization of the Latin “Quatuor Tempora” meaning “four times” in reference to the rather prosaic fact that Ember Days—days of fasting, abstinence, and prayer—happen four times each year.

Even so, the resonance seems serendipitous to me, since Ember Days, in addition to being times dedicated to praying for those in discernment and ministry, also mark the changing seasons, liminal periods of sewing, harvest, and vintage when we partake of the recurrent cycles of death and rebirth hardcoded into creation.

Sitting down at my computer this morning, I didn’t know what to do with this swirl of associations (fire and ash, death and resurrection, sewing and harvest, discernment and ministry), and then two things happened. 

First, I got a phone call from my wife Adrienne who told me she was pondering John 21, where the resurrected Christ prepares a fire of coals for Peter and the other disciples and eats breakfast with them. “Do you love me? Then feed my sheep,” he says.

Second, I came across this Embertide confession from the Church of England:

God has called us to follow Christ,
and has formed us into a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
to declare the wonderful deeds of him who has called us
out of darkness into his marvellous light.
Let us confess the times when we have failed to heed this call.

Lord Jesus, you said to your disciples:
‘You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.’
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, we know that the harvest is plentiful
but the labourers are few.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you appointed us to go and bear fruit that will last.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

There it all was again. Coals and resurrection, harvest and ministry.

How sublime are the infinite valences of Christ in the world!

The endless interplay of creation, scripture, history, and accident to reflect and refract the one who is the image of the Father. Charging us in every moment to discern his presence. Calling us to feed his sheep.

In love,

—Douglas