Remember...

"Remember...
you are dust,
and unto dust
you shall return."

These are words we heard today as ashes were "imposed" on our foreheads -- an odd ritual when you stop to think about it. I looked up the word "impose."
To "impose" something is to apply or establish something as if by authority, or to push or force upon another; such as imposing a tax, or imposing one's will upon another.

It makes me wonder, exactly, who is imposing what onto whom. (Besides the obvious answer of the priest imposing ashes upon me.) I've been pondering this all day.

Then as I've been writing this entry, a thought came to me. (Perhaps an inspiration of the Spirit?) This is a day for me to impose upon myself, my mind, the remembrance of who I am and my place in the universe.

We not only come from the Earth, we are an intricate part of the Earth. I read once that everyone who ever lived upon earth is still here. There's a scientific explanation that Sr. Catherine Grace explains clearly. I can't remember the specifics, but it has to do with the fact that there are a set number of molecules or atoms (or something like that), and that number never changes. As people die or matter decomposes, those molecules are released, transformed and rebirthed into something new.

And all of this started with a very humble beginning 13.7 billion years ago.
So I would not be amiss in saying:

Remember...
you are stardust,
and unto stardust
you shall return.