We attend an Ash Wednesday service to receive the ashes of a burned plant, mixed with olive oil, on our foreheads.

We say the words, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Ash. Dust.

In May, 2023, I had the opportunity to participate in an international, interfaith gathering of spiritual changemakers in Orange, California.

A Native American spiritual leader told us something that really stuck with me. She said that in her tradition they always keep 14 generations in their mind.

They remember the seven generations that have come before us. Their lives, and their choices, for good and for evil, are what have shaped our moment, right now. We are here because of them.

And, every decision that we make, for good and for evil, will shape the seven generations that come after us.

As I was thinking about the imposition of Ashes on Ash Wednesday, when we speak these words, I realized that is what we are doing.

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

We often think of the ashes of Ash Wednesday as a symbol of death. We say,  “Remember you are going to return to ashes.”

But what if we said it this way. “Remember that God brought you, Adam, from the Adamah, and you will return to the Adamah.”

In the beginning, God took a lump of Adamah, of dust, of soil, and breathed life into it to form the Adam, the human.

The human is a clump of dirt filled with the breath of God.

When that human life dies it returns to the soil. It is composted.

That’s what soil is. It is the composted lives of previous generations that becomes the soil for the present generation.

Generation after generation.

Formed. Infused with the breath of life. Returned to the soil.

Much of this soil is rich and full of love and nutrients. For this we give thanks.

Here’s the harsh reality. Sometimes it is hard to honor these generations because the soil they have left for us is filled with pain and violence and the forest seems scorched and barren.

And yet, here we are. You are a clump of dirt, filled with the breath of God.

Everything that we do, in the soil of now, will eventually be composted and become the soil for the seven generations that come after us.

The Adamah is the life-bristling universe itself. The universe is continually expanding and God is always inviting all things into being through love. (see this post on Open and Relationship theology).

Our moment as Adam–our personal experience of life–is one part of the cosmic dance of life. We were part of the Adamah before our unique Adam moment, and when we die, our unique experience of relationship with the universe will have actually shaped the next moment of the universe. Because of our Adam moment, when we return, the Adamah will be better.

This life we live is one in which we are daily invited to live to the fullest; to abundance; to overflowing with the love of God for all things.

Smearing ashes on the forehead is a reminder that our one life matters. We are invited to follow the good shepherd into the Kin-dom of Love, even if it leads to the cross.