Ash Wednesday 2025
God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!” Genesis 2:7
Scientists tell us that 97% of our bodies - primarily oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus - are the very same elements that compose, well, dirt.
This fact should not shock, for each Ash Wednesday we are called to remember the words of the Bible: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return." This verse is no mere poetry. Our physical beings are, quite literally, that of humus (Latin for “soil”). How humbling.
True humility brings a kind of relief to those of us who labor to be more, do more, prove more. But humility is no weakness. Out of the 16th century, Teresa of Avila reassures us that “humility is the truth. To be humble is to walk in truth, to recognize what we are in the sight of God, and to know that our worth depends on God’s mercy.”
Mother Teresa puts it plainly. “If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.” Dust.
As we step into Lent may we wake up to the wonder of this truth: we are made from the earth. And we are, in God's hands, created to bear abundant fruit.
Invitation to Wonder: Dig in the Dirt
"The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector." Wendell Berry (b. 1934, American writer and farmer)
Take 8 minutes to go outside. Leave behind your phone but take along a spade, a shovel or even a spoon. Bring a magnifying glass if you have one.
Find a patch of soil and dig up a healthy clump. Now settle in and look very closely at the dirt, as if seeing dirt for the very first time. Touch it. Smell it. Examine the soil for the presence of minerals, organic matter, water, even living organisms.
As you hold the dirt in your hands, taking abundant time, prayerfully meditate upon the words of St. Augustine (354–430 AD)
“You are dust, and to dust you shall return. Be humble, for you are made of earth. Be noble, for you are made for God.”
This Lenten devotional is inspired by Wake Up To Wonder: 22 Invitations to Amazement in the Everyday by Karen Wright Marsh (Brazos: 2022). Available wherever books are sold.