itsawonderfilledlife

Ash Wednesday … a day on the calendar that has had little meaning to me, a day I knew little about.

I guess I think of it as a Catholic day, or one practised by more mainline churches (those older, established denominations, which are protestant but who hold closely to the church calendar, rituals and traditions). It is a day of the burning of Easter palms to ashes and the sign of the cross, applied to the forehead of church-goers.

But … why?

“For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
Genesis 3:19

Dust to dust … ashes to ashes

mortality.

We are reminded today, by the ashes, that we are mortal, we are subject to death. Like the palm leaves, green and full of life, we eventually fade, dry up and blow into the wind. This mortality, earned through our human DNA, damaged in the choices in the Garden of Eden, by the choices we make each and every day.

But, we are also reminded today, by the shape of the cross drawn with the ashes, that, though our bodies are mortal, fragile, our eternity is in the hands of our redeemer. It is through the gift of his sacrifice that God sees not our sin, but sees us as his.

Today we consider our human condition.

Today we look at what has been done on our behalf.

Today is an opportunity turn from our human nature, to turn from that which separates us from God, toward a daily life of closeness with him and to live with redemption in our souls.