Can we be both “of dust” and “of spirit”? With a reminder of the ashes placed on the forehead on many a faithful this week, the mortality of the body and the immortality of soul renew the question and response offered by the Persian poet Fariduddin Attar, "Which matters more, the body or the soul? Be whole: desire and journey to the Whole.” 

With the expressions of the infinite and finite, the divine and worldly, as well as the sacred and secular may come this thought: “There is but one Reality that permeates thee and me and all beings…Then why does thou lose thy forbearance and become angry? Rise above the consciousness of separation and realize thyself in all and all in thee.” This universal message of Shankaracharya brings to mind an ideal to seek and uphold amidst the ever changing conditions of this earthly existence.