Ash Wednesday: How I Learnt About It Harshly

Let’s call his name Dr Tunde. Dr Tunde and I worked in the same hospital for a few years. He was a cool and good-natured guy. He spoke gently always even when provoked. I knew he was a Christian but did not know that he was a Catholic.

I was in the doctor’s call room of the hospital one early morning when he walked in with a sign of the cross on his forehead. It was drawn with a grey colored paint, I thought. I had a sudden fright in me. The only place I had seen such sign on people’s forehead was in Nollywood movies, and they were occultic people.

I mused, “Is this guy a member of a cult group or what?” He walked into the room as if all was well. He greeted me and went to sit down on the bed. The bed was behind me. I wanted to look back to see clearly what the cross was about. Again, I was a bit afraid, so I sat still. “Is Tunde a member of a strange sect or what?” I asked myself. 

I could not continue what I was doing because I felt I needed to clarify from him what was drawn on his forehead. It would soon be 8 am and we would both disperse to our respective units. I waited to see if he would clean it, perhaps he would remember that he should have cleaned it before coming to work. Dr Tunde was busy with his phone instead. By this time, I had turned such that I could see him with my side eye. I encouraged myself to ask him for the meaning of the sign on his forehead because it would affect my relationship with him henceforth.

I cleared my throat… “Ehm, Dr Tunde… ehm… I am sorry oo. What is this thing on your forehead?”

“How can you ask that kind of question?” he retorted. “Don’t you know today is Ash Wednesday? I went to mass before coming to work. I had it there…” He said it in a curt and patronizing way. 

 

I just realized at that moment that he was a Catholic because I could see the rosary around his neck. I had never seen it on him before then. I didn’t know that that particular day was Ash Wednesday but of course I knew that Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of the annual fast by most Christians. What I also did not know was that ash was used to draw a cross on the forehead to mark the day. 

I sat there feeling sorry for my naivety. I wondered if I had not seen ash on the foreheads of my colleagues while in secondary school and university. 

When I saw ash on someone’s forehead today, I remembered Dr. Tunde and smiled at my naivety again…