Today, we begin the journey of Lent: 40 days focused on the task of preparing ourselves for the annual Christian feast of Easter. Today, Ash Wednesday, we receive a sign upon our forehead: a bit of ash that reminds us that, according to the ancient story from Genesis, “you are dust and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)
This phrase could sound somewhat sad or defeatist, and even antiquated. It reminds us of the biblical punishment to which Adam and Eve were condemned after daring to eat of the fruit from the tree of Good and Evil. We must admit it: none of us like to be reminded that, sooner or later, we will return to the earth from which we came – this is an inevitable destiny for all human beings.
However, today’s ceremony carries a positive message as well. Upon recognizing that we are not eternal, that we cannot avoid the final destiny of our lives, we recognize our contingency, our finiteness, before God, the only absolute.
All human beings tend to “absolutize” someone or something: sometimes we absolutize ourselves, other times we do it to other persons; we absolutize our social role, our activities… Today we remember that we are finite creatures created by an infinite God. The ash on our heads helps us to avoid falling into the narcissistic thinking that no one, nor anything, can limit me, that I am an eternal being.
“You are dust, and to dust you will return”: God reminds Adam and Eve that they – us – are finite creatures, that we are not gods. This is not bad news, for the recognition of our finiteness liberates us to live with joy in the present, the now, instead of selling ourselves to a future that is so often imaginary, for which we are sometimes willing to sacrifice the present, instead of valuing the today and now as a unrepeatable gift that deserves to be lived intensely with full joy and liberty.
This phrase could sound somewhat sad or defeatist, and even antiquated. It reminds us of the biblical punishment to which Adam and Eve were condemned after daring to eat of the fruit from the tree of Good and Evil. We must admit it: none of us like to be reminded that, sooner or later, we will return to the earth from which we came – this is an inevitable destiny for all human beings.
However, today’s ceremony carries a positive message as well. Upon recognizing that we are not eternal, that we cannot avoid the final destiny of our lives, we recognize our contingency, our finiteness, before God, the only absolute.
All human beings tend to “absolutize” someone or something: sometimes we absolutize ourselves, other times we do it to other persons; we absolutize our social role, our activities… Today we remember that we are finite creatures created by an infinite God. The ash on our heads helps us to avoid falling into the narcissistic thinking that no one, nor anything, can limit me, that I am an eternal being.
“You are dust, and to dust you will return”: God reminds Adam and Eve that they – us – are finite creatures, that we are not gods. This is not bad news, for the recognition of our finiteness liberates us to live with joy in the present, the now, instead of selling ourselves to a future that is so often imaginary, for which we are sometimes willing to sacrifice the present, instead of valuing the today and now as a unrepeatable gift that deserves to be lived intensely with full joy and liberty.
