When I was Methodist, I offered an Ash Wednesday service. I found it spiritually useful to gather with other flawed human beings to remember that we are all mortal.

I would burn the dried leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday and mix them with a little olive oil. Then as my parishioners knelt or stood in front of the chancel, I would mark their foreheads and recite, “Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.”

My mother died in February of 2012, and since then, the powerful truth of Ash Wednesday has been mixed with that loss. While I do believe that our spiritual energy is eternal, I do not believe in an afterlife for our personalities. So I do not expect to ever interact with my mother again, and my memories of her and my sadness are part of who I am.

Remembering my mortality is not exactly pleasant, but it does help keep me grounded, and it gives me perspective on what really matters now, on where and how to spend my limited time and energy.

To dust we shall return. Make your time count, Friends!

In wisdom and grace,

Rev. Ruth