Ash Wednesday

We are now in full Lenten season mode with the start of today, Ash Wednesday. The symbolic ashes that are from the burnt palm leaves from last year's Palm Sunday celebration are now used to etch the sign of the cross on millions of believers' foreheads. It is almost a magical moment, because it captures the endpoints of our existence, that of the beginning of life and death. We are reminded that "you are dust, and unto dust you shall return". And the baptismal reminder to live a life anew, "to repent and believe in the gospel", as the modern phrasing is now used when the ashes are marked on a believer's forehead. So we are reminded of what should be our life's goal, we also ponder upon the current state of our soul, and we are reminded of our mortality, and all these captured in two finger strokes of the cross, as the vertical is crossed with the horizontal, as the infinite God bequeaths His presence on us the finite man. Our bodies, the physicality of our beings will meet its demise, its end and return into its original form of dust. Our souls will return to its Owner, God, whose judgment of us will send us forth into a life of happiness with Him, or to a temporary stop to cleans our imperfect desires and inclinations en-route to our heavenly home, or into the fiery eternity of hell. Nobody wants to think about this, because it really is about the inevitable, the finality of all final acts, the conclusion, the end game, so to speak. But a wise man will use this Lenten season to better him or herself, notably in the areas of prayer, morality, and service toward others. It can definitely be the time that we can use to head back in the right direction with our Creator. "Remember that thou are dust, and unto dust you shall return".