From Ashes to Ashes

Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return. (Latin:
Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.)
—Genesis 3:19

As a cultural Catholic, I made a quick visit to the Cathedral today for Ash Wednesday. With all the craziness of event planning in my office, I missed the 12:10pm mass, but I was able to go and have a quiet moment for prayer and reflection.

An usher led me to the a deacon who was smearing anotherCatholic with an ashen
cross. I waited behind him for my turn. He motions toward me and says, "Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return".

And all I could think of was Lao Tzu:

Rather than turn away from "the world of dust," Lao Zi advised others to
"join the dust of the world." What he saw operating behind everything in
heaven and earth he called Tao (DAO), "the Way."

From there, I was thinking about the Catholic approach to dust as the reminder of repentance. I looked at my life and the definition that I would recognize as sin: "disruption of harmony".

How often have I "disrupted" another's "harmony"? Perhaps a couple of times.

How often have I "disrupted" my own "harmony"? Probably countless times.