To read: Genesis 3:19
"By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
To think about:
"Remember the Alamo" is a challenge to be courageous in the face of great odds. Jews encourage us to remember the holocaust. Their concern is that if we do not remember it we will allow it to happen again. At the beginning of Lent we are encouraged to "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
Why is that we are to remember our mortality more than anything else as the days of Lent pass by? First, we remember we are dust so that we can pay attention to our solidarity with all others and with all the earth. Together we are part of creation, and are unique only in that God has given us different shape and ability when God made us. Remembering all that we share may give us a toleration and understanding of other folks with whom we do not immediately find reason to bond. They are God's creation as well. And the earth from which we are formed needs care and attention, for it is the stuff out of which life was formed.
Secondly, we remember we are dust so that we will be prepared to experience the absolute wonder of Easter. If we are mortal, if we will return to dust, then the promise of the resurrection that the God who first created life from that dust will create new life from dust once again is all the more spectacular. God will be doing a truly miraculous thing when God raises us to new life. Having focused on our mortality for 40 days, the promise of immortality will be able to be celebrated as the great gift that it is.
As Christians we are to remember one thing more. "Do this to remember me" is one translation of the words of institution uttered by our Lord at the Last Supper. Remembering is so important that Jesus provided a meal where our memory could be stimulated. The broken bread and the poured wine are really body broken and blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. We are to remember how Jesus did that for us on the cross.
As we age we may report that our memories are failing. May the cross of ashes and the bread and wine stimulate them so that we may know both the depth of our sin and the depth of Jesus' love.