From dust you came and dust you shall return

As mortals, we have a beginning and an end, and therefore time is precious: don't waste it! Our days are like grass we flourish like a flower of the field when the wind goes over it, it is gone, and its place shall know it no more.' We are confronted with our mortality.

Here we find the following verses: '(God) remembers we are dust. The Ash Wednesday liturgy includes the recitation of Psalm 103. The words for the imposition of ashes come from Genesis where God tells Adam and Eve, 'Out of the ground you were taken and so to it you will return.' God reiterates, 'You are dust and to it you shall return.' For Adam and Eve this was something of a 'downer' because it represented a consequence of humanity's departure for the rarified Garden of Eden, but for us modern, high-tech types, who live so removed from the natural earth, this remembering can be quite an 'upper'!Д«enefit #2: Time is precious. When we get back into nature we have a sense of revitalization and, more to the point, 'at-homeness.' We feel at-home because at some deep level we are remembering that we are not only on the earth, but 'in-earthed.' The reason why so many of us cherish living in Colorado is we have such splendid access to nature. Why is this important for us to remember? Because more than any culture or society before, we are alienated from the earth, which is why we have a global, ecological crisis. And when you think about it, it's obvious that the human body is an integrated, amalgamation of minerals, water, air and warmth-just like the earth itself! According to Genesis, God formed the first human, Adam, from the ground in other words, from the earth. But what are we moderns to make of this?ДЄctually, there are three benefits that can be obtained by remembering that you and I are dust, and to dust we shall return.Д«enefit #1: We are at home on earth, because we are from the ground. 'Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' In contemporary parlance, 'You are dust, and to dust you shall return.' These are the words said as ashes (from the burnt palms of Palm Sunday) are imposed in the form of a cross on the foreheads of those who participate in this ancient ritual, dating back at least to the sixth century. Meanwhile, back at the church many parishioners participated in the three Ash Wednesday services.

In addition, both The Coloradoan and the Loveland Reporter-Herald covered the story. In total, they faithfully engaged ninety-nine of our Fort Collins neighbors. Greg, to the Transit Center, and then to Old Town Square, to provide ashes, prayers and a listening heart to any and all who the ministers encountered. Luke's Church introduced a new ministry (for us, at least) to the Fort Collins community: 'Ashes to Go.' At 7:00 am and then during the lunch hour, we sent out ten, trained lay ministers, led by Fr.

From dust you came and dust you shall return