A time when the Church\u2019s calendar drops a reminder on us that we are mortal. \u00a0Not that we don\u2019t know it. \u00a0But sometimes life can become so hurried that we forget\u00a0how fast we come and go.<\/p>\n
Ashes to ashes. \u00a0In the greater scheme of things, the vast majority of us will long be forgotten a hundred years from now. \u00a0Interred in some back corner of a cemetery with a modest grave marker that nobody will visit.<\/p>\n
A rare few have celebrity now, but will be forgotten nonetheless. \u00a0I was in a Best Buy some years ago and two young girls were looking at the CD section. \u00a0I heard one say to another, \u201cMy Mom says they were happening when she was little.\u201d \u00a0I glanced around them to see who they were talking about. \u00a0They were looking at The Beatles.<\/p>\n
Only a barely measurable number will be remembered through the ages. \u00a0And as often as not, those who reach that level have lives most of us, save for the trappings of notoriety and possible material fortune, wouldn\u2019t envy.<\/p>\n
The rest of us? \u00a0For all we do in this life, it\u2019s fleeting. \u00a0Our children, possibly our grand children, and if we\u2019re really long lived, maybe our great grandchildren, will remember. \u00a0But in\u00a0a hundred or so years, everything we have in this world, including our names, will likely be done.<\/p>\n
So either we come to grips with the fact that our lives have no ultimate purpose, and once the earth comes to an end \u2013 which everyone seems to agree will happen, one way or another \u2013 then the fact that humanity\u00a0ever existed is no more meaningful than an amoeba.<\/p>\n
Or we accept that there is\u00a0something more than merely the rocks and stones and flesh we see on a given day; beyond all that seems clear and obvious to our senses. \u00a0Something that the bulk of humanity, from the beginning, has been attuned to in some form or another.<\/p>\n
That is what Ash Wednesday is all about. \u00a0Reminding us of the ultimate finality of this side of life, and calling us to prepare for what lies beyond. Through prayer, fasting, and alms giving, we\u2019re called to put the brakes on the rat race and get with the marathon.<\/p>\n
So today, I think of those who have gone before. \u00a0My Dad, my Grandparents and aunts and uncles and loved ones and friends. \u00a0I\u2019m reminded that this life is merely a second womb in which wait to be born into the real life we\u2019re prepared for. \u00a0I look at things around us, including Trump\u2019s address that I\u2019m honor bound to avoid commenting on, and consider praying for him and all who were there. Those who weren\u2019t. \u00a0Those around me.<\/p>\n