From Wikipedia:
"Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance and it marks the beginning of Lent. Ashes were used in ancient times, according to the Bible, to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. An ancient example of one expressing one's penitence is found in Job 42:3-6. Job says to God: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (vv. 5-6,
KJV) Other examples are found in several other books of the Bible, including, Numbers 19:9, 19:17, Jonah 3:6, Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13, and Hebrews 9:13.
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. The ashes used are gathered after the Palm Crosses from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned."
I think that the use of Palm Sunday branches is fascinating. The people welcomed Jesus using these branches just a few days before calling for his death. Burning them, and then marking yourself with their ashes as a symbol of repentance.
Lent is marked by three main things in the life of the believer: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
"I repent of my pursuit of America's dream
I repent of living like i deserve anything
my house, my fence, my kids, and my wife
in our suburb where we're safe and white
I am wrong and of these things I repent
I repent of parading my liberty
I repent of paying for what I get for free
the way I believe that I am living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong and of these things I repent
I repent judging by a law that even I can't keep
wearing righteousness like a disguise to see through
the planks in my own eyes
I repent of trading truth for false unity
I repent of confusing peace and idolatry
of caring more of what they think than what I know of what they need
and domesticating You until You look just like me
I am wrong and of these things I repent"
I Repent-Derek Webb
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