The season of Lent is a time in which we become centered in our humanity, looking at ourselves and looking at God and confessing the difference.

This prepares us for the upcoming season of fasting.вЂќ In the Burial section of the first English Book of Common Prayer completed in 1548 is this line: Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It is also an act of penance, as we recognize who we are, our limits and our weaknesses. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken for dust you are and to dust you will return.

This is a symbol that we are finite and will die, a symbol of humility by reminding ourselves of our mortalityвЂ¦ This reminds us of our need to accept the grace of God. you shall walk on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. вЂњTraditionally, Ash Wednesday has included the burning of palm branches that were from the previous Palm Sunday and turning it into a paste, using anointing oils and anointing the church communityвЂ™s foreheads. 5For God knows that on the day that you eat thereof, your eyes will be. Geoff Miller, a senior at SNU, commented on the common symbols that add to the importance of Ash Wednesday, saying, Kruck explained the dichotomy of Ash Wednesday, a day in which we move from hope and celebration into penance and servanthood, as we вЂњrecognize the frailty around us that prepares us to experience the needs of the world.вЂќ Ash Wednesday is intended to be a reflective season that brings people closer to God through their practices of either removing something important from their lives and/or adding a serving or reflective activity in order to practice self-emptying. The season of Epiphany is a bit more of a celebratory season where we are seeking and discovering who Christ is and imagining the possibility of the MessiahвЂ¦ but Ash Wednesday is the hard stop in which we consider the truth and frailty of our lives and the fact that we are temporaryвЂ¦ in preparation for the end of Lent.вЂќ вЂњThe beauty of Ash Wednesday that we need to understand is that it is the day that starts Lent, but itвЂ™s also the day in which we end Epiphany. Your power brings us to birth, and by Your command we return to dust. When asked what Ash Wednesday was, he replied: In order to better understand this complex and often misunderstood liturgical season, I spoke with Professor Logan Kruck of the theology department. This practice of facing the anxiety of death is an important one to partake in as people prepare for Lent, the time of penance and self-reflection. In churches throughout the world, people will participate in the remembrance of human mortality as they have ashes and oil anointed upon their foreheads. On February 14, the liturgical season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and will end on Good Friday, March 30.

From dust you came and from dust