On Ash Wednesday we were reminded that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Like it or not being seen with ashes on our foreheads by others, especially nonbelievers, receives mixed reactions. When we add in the phrase ‘you are dust and to dust to shall return’, some can see this practice as being morbid. A simple reminder of what we already know implying perhaps a hopelessness we would rather not be reminded of. As people of faith, however, the ashes remind us of our oneness with Christ. You might even say that we are one in the dust. St. Paul in Romans tells us we have been united with him in a death like his and we will be united with him in a resurrection like his. Jesus in his humanity is also dust. For people of faith the dust connects us to Jesus death and his resurrection. We are indeed one in the dust.
