This Wednesday, February 22nd, is celebrated by many as Ash Wednesday, the first day of the pentential season known as Lent. The previous day - celebrated by many more, I suspect - is variously known as Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Carnival, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day, etc.  Since we lived in the great state of Louisiana for eight wonderful years, our son being born in Plaquemine, LA, I have great affection for Mardi Gras - that wonderful final burst of partying before this serious season of Lent, the last chance to to enjoy all the fat things of life.

But what is Ash Wednesday - and does it have any relevance for today's culture, religion, & politics?  Does it bring any meaning into our lives?  All I can speak for is myself.  And so I shall. For me, Ash Wednesday is a wonderfully astringent and significant time - a kairos time.  That is especially true of the sobering service known as The Imposition of Ashes.  We celebrate this in the Episcopal Church, as do Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists - and even some Baptists, Eastern Orthodox, and others.

"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

The most solemn moment in the liturgy is when the priest marks the forehead with ash, speaking these awe-inspiring words, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

The rite of the ashes, and these quiet words, remind us of our mortality, our fragility as human beings.  They certainly accomplish that result for me!  Whether it is a child, or an old person, or me kneeling at the altar, there are few more potent symbols of life and mortality.  How can we recongize the grace that life brings, without this annual reminder of Ash Wednesday?

This day reminds me of the precious nature of life itself - life that must be lived in the face of death, our final Enemy.  For some, no doubt, all this talk sounds far too medieval, morbid, & macabre - to get all alliterative. Maybe, maybe not. For me, Ash Wednesday brings me some reality, some much-needed honesty, some longer perspective into my life.  Let's face it.  Whether we are people or faith or not, it is easy to be obsessed with the mundane: our horizons becomes very limited.  Ash Wednesday brings me back, it centres me, it expands my horizon. That, at least, is my personal experience.

But what of the wider arena, the culture, religion, & politics of the United States? Does Ash Wednesday say anything to that? Each of us has to work that out for ourselves.  But here are a few quick thoughts:

1. Culture       Art and literature speak of humanity's  fragility, our humanness, our "thrownness" into life.  "Remember you are dust..." seems appropriate.  Science agrees, I think: we share atoms, proteins, DNA, with the rest of life - we are dust.



2. Religion     At its best, human fraility and fallibility is spelt out in religion.  But when religious is marked by dogmatism, judgment, and infallibility - then the message of Ash Wednesday seems needed.                                                                                                                              

3. Politics     Like some forms of Religion, much of Politics seems characterized by arrogance, a desparate search for certainty, and the demonizing of the Other.  In the face of such demonic forms of politics, we need to recognize our common humanity, to "remember that we are dust,"  All of us.  Rich & poor, woman & man, old & young, Democrat & Republican - all of us are fragile human beings, sharing this island home that we call Earth.

So, maybe, after all is said and done, we do need "to remember that we are dust..."  Just a thought.

Raymond Vince /Ash Wednesday, 2012