5th March 2025
“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ”
These are the words said when we are marked in ash with the sign of the cross on our foreheads. As we respond to the call to repent – to turn away from our sin – we are marked with something physical that is of creation. The ash is traditionally made from the previous year’s palm crosses – palm crosses we carried as we once again announced that Jesus would be king, would rule in our lives and in our world … which on reflection we have failed to honour.
But the words talk of dust and that reminds us of the Genesis story when God made the first being from the dust of the earth – the soil, the very ground of creation. Studying the natural world, we know that its wellbeing, its liveliness is maintained through cycles that allow materials – atoms and molecules – to enable all that is necessary for life to be reused endlessly. God’s mercy too is endless, constantly holding us in the bonds of love.
The Green Tau 