Ash Wednesday

In honor of Ash Wednesday, a reading from Genesis 3:17-19 (The Revised English Bible version):

And to the man he said: 'Because you have listened to your wife and have eaten from the tree which I forbade you,
on your account the earth will be cursed.
You will get your food from it only by labour
all the days of your life;
it will yield thorns and thistles for you.
You will eat of the produce of the field,
and only by the sweat of your brow will you win your bread
until you return to the earth;
for from it you were taken.
Dust you are, to dust you will return.'

This is God's commandment to Adam after eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. It is this that we are reminded of in the Ash Wednesday ceremony. In the Episcopal church the ashes are imposed with these words:

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Let us all remember to be humble during this holy Lenten season.