The ice and snow, on top of COVID protocols, prevent us from holding our annual Ash Wednesday service in the church. The service is being offered in full by staff members in a video from their homes. Maggie Jarrell, in the homily, reflects on the text from Matthew 6 where Jesus cautions people to pray, fast, and give in secret, without calling attention to themselves. Ash Wednesday calls us to remember our own mortality. We have been especially aware of this during this year of pandemic and increased awareness of inequities. At Ash Wednesday we remember we are human and fragile. Our current world calls us to put on a show, to be perfect, and never to show any vulnerability. Jesus calls us, instead, not to show off. Still, there are times when we must pray out loud, times when doing so truly honors God and not ourselves.