[1] Here at ASM on Ash Wednesday at the Entrance Rite, we confess our sins then receive the ashes on our foreheads. Later in the service, following the reading of the Gospel of Matthew text for the day--

^"And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Matthew 6: 16-18 --

we gather at the baptismal font and take turns washing the ashes from each others’ foreheads. This has become, for me, a powerful visual symbol of hope, and of the promise of the resurrection, our resurrections from darkness to life, ashes on, ashes off.  jhd