March 5, 2025
About a month ago, one of our younger members asked me if I’d ever heard of a band called Iron Butterfly. The question kind of caught me off-guard, but the answer was Yes, I had heard of Iron Butterfly—twice.
The first time was when I was very little—like under ten years old. That’s when the only song I’ve ever heard of by Iron Butterfly was a hit. It was called In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. And I remember how that song generated a lot of gossip in its day among people of my parents’ generation (they were only in their mid-thirties at the time). It supposedly meant “In the Garden of Eden,” and somehow drugs were involved.
The second time I heard of Iron Butterfly was much later, and in a much different way. It was in a Simpsons’ episode called Bart Sells His Soul, and here’s what transpired.
One Sunday morning, Bart was (as usual) up to no good. Today’s prank involved switching out the opening hymn in the worship service of First Church, Springfield. I don’t remember what the hymn was supposed to be, but the replacement hymn was called In the Garden of Eden, written by someone named I. Ron Butterfly.
Since the main instrument accompanying the actual song is the organ, it worked out pretty well for Bart. As the ancient organist played her part, the congregation sang, “In the Garden of Eden, honey, don't you know that I'm lovin' you; in the Garden of Eden, baby, don't you know that I'll always be true.” They’re paying no attention to the hymn they’re singing, just mindlessly going along with what’s on the page… as is the old organist. Her technical skills are pretty impressive. She’s able to follow along with every note on the sheet music. But, alas, her physical skills are no longer up to it, and as the song reaches its climax, she collapses on the keyboard.
It's only then that Rev. Lovejoy and the congregation realize that they’ve been duped. Fearing for his soul, Bart’s friend Milhouse snitches on him. But Bart not only says there’s no such thing as a soul, he actually sells his soul to Milhouse. Naturally, things don’t go well for Bart, and he finally gets his soul back from Milhouse.
But the whole thing was set in motion in the first place by the fact that nobody in church was really paying any attention to what they were doing. And I think that was the point of the episode—at least the point of that first part: For too many people, religion is just going through the motions.
And this brings us to Ash Wednesday. If there’s one day in the Christian year that’s a wake-up call to the faithful, it’s today. Tonight’s scripture tells us that the time is now, and that today’s the day. Maybe we hear words like that from the Bible on other days. But tonight, it’s punctuated with other words and actions:
Today, more than any other day, we admit our complicity in the problems of the world. And we even receive a reminder on our bodies that we won’t live forever—that this is all coming to an end—but that our faith promises us something more.
And that something more is found in a Supper—a Supper that embodies the God we worship. His presence among us wakes us up, strengthens us, and accompanies us as we move forward… toward the cross, and, finally, toward the empty tomb.
But first, we must make our way through the ashes…
—©2025 Sam Greening
