Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
I’d like to share a little tradition that happens every year in the Catholic Church.
Forty six days before Easter (the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead), Catholics around the world celebrate Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent (a season of fasting and prayer – similar to Bulan Puasa for Muslims). It’s during this day that you sometimes see people sporting a black smudge on their head in the shape of the cross. Haven’t seen one yet? Well, here you go.
Why do they do it? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but today let’s just focus on one part that really struck me during this year’s Ash Wednesday.
As they put the ash on your forehead, the priest will say “From dust you came, and to dust you shall return.”
That phrase is literally true. I mean, you were once so small, you were a speck of dust.
Look, it’s you! Age: 1 day!
And one day, you return to the earth as dust and that’s the end of it. You die. Just like that. Just like everything else.
And it really makes you question yourself: Why should I deal with the things the way I do if one day, it will all turn to dust again? I ask myself that very question frequently, especially when studying hard for a test hoping to get an A. If there was a more pressing issue at hand (such as an alien invasion) I would drop everything because the preservation of my life is more important.
I guess from this message of dust returning to dust I learnt two things:
1. Life is short
So live it. One day you’ll wake up and realise that you’re 70 years old – or you might find out you are sick with a disease you thought only old people would be afflicted with, and you realise you will never get to do the things you wanted to do all along. Maybe you might board a plane that disappears in midair out of expectation? Either way, live with no regrets.
2. Live humbly
We all came from the same place and we’ll all be going back to the same place. If that’s the case, what makes a top CEO different from a garbage-cleaner? Even Cory Monteith, with all his fame, fortune and fans couldn’t escape the harsh reality of life that all of us have to face eventually – death. If that is the case, what gives any human the right to think they’re better or worse than others? Nothing. Nobody can bring riches, beauty, or anything else with them to death, whatever you believe death may be, even if it’s just a hole in the ground to you.
Ponder then, what it means to live and remember that life is short; the sand in the hourglass is flowing away as we speak. Soon, you may return to dust – so live today facing forward, with your back on yesterday, your eyes on tomorrow, and your head and heart in the moment.
Written by Christine Kuan,
South Australian Matriculation Program,
Editorial Board Writing Department.
Forty six days before Easter (the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead), Catholics around the world celebrate Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent (a season of fasting and prayer – similar to Bulan Puasa for Muslims). It’s during this day that you sometimes see people sporting a black smudge on their head in the shape of the cross. Haven’t seen one yet? Well, here you go.
Why do they do it? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but today let’s just focus on one part that really struck me during this year’s Ash Wednesday.
As they put the ash on your forehead, the priest will say “From dust you came, and to dust you shall return.”
That phrase is literally true. I mean, you were once so small, you were a speck of dust.
Look, it’s you! Age: 1 day!And one day, you return to the earth as dust and that’s the end of it. You die. Just like that. Just like everything else.
And it really makes you question yourself: Why should I deal with the things the way I do if one day, it will all turn to dust again? I ask myself that very question frequently, especially when studying hard for a test hoping to get an A. If there was a more pressing issue at hand (such as an alien invasion) I would drop everything because the preservation of my life is more important.
I guess from this message of dust returning to dust I learnt two things:
1. Life is short
So live it. One day you’ll wake up and realise that you’re 70 years old – or you might find out you are sick with a disease you thought only old people would be afflicted with, and you realise you will never get to do the things you wanted to do all along. Maybe you might board a plane that disappears in midair out of expectation? Either way, live with no regrets.
2. Live humbly
We all came from the same place and we’ll all be going back to the same place. If that’s the case, what makes a top CEO different from a garbage-cleaner? Even Cory Monteith, with all his fame, fortune and fans couldn’t escape the harsh reality of life that all of us have to face eventually – death. If that is the case, what gives any human the right to think they’re better or worse than others? Nothing. Nobody can bring riches, beauty, or anything else with them to death, whatever you believe death may be, even if it’s just a hole in the ground to you.
Ponder then, what it means to live and remember that life is short; the sand in the hourglass is flowing away as we speak. Soon, you may return to dust – so live today facing forward, with your back on yesterday, your eyes on tomorrow, and your head and heart in the moment.
Written by Christine Kuan,
South Australian Matriculation Program,
Editorial Board Writing Department.
