From Think Christian, one of my favorite Christian blogs, comes these thoughts on Ash Wednesday.

One of my favorite evenings as a pastor was the night of Ash Wednesday worship. It was always a quieter service, a smaller crowd, a gentler pace. No swarms of people trying to hang up coats and tripping over kids. No last minute announcements that needed to be made. No band going over chords at the last minute. A soft prelude. A set liturgy. A short meditation. And ashes.

It was my job to dip my thumb in the small dish of ash and smear the sign of the cross on the forehead of my congregants. “Remember that you are dust,” I would say, “and to dust you shall return.” Some years I would say, “Repent, and believe the gospel.” Sometimes, “You belong to Jesus Christ.” But always, the ashes. And always, a name first: “Jim, remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Marsha, remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Hannah, remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Just about everybody who came to those services was a member, a congregant, a parishioner, a friend. I knew their names. And I marked them with a sign of the cross.