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Today is Ash Wed.  It’s not a very well known religious day, but it’s one I personally find particularly meaningful.

For those of you who are curious, here is a primer on Ash Wed. In a nutshell, it marks the beginning of Lent, which is the 46 day period in anticipation of Easter.

What I love about this day is its emphasis on humility. I think with the busy pace of life, it’s unfortunately easy for me to get caught up in my own self importance without even noticing it.  So I really appreciate hearing the words that usually accompany the application of the ashes: “”Remember O man that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”

The interesting thing I didn’t know until a few years ago is that the ashes used on Ash Wed are from the palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday.

I once heard a minister explain the reason for this.  Palm Sunday was the day that Jesus of Nazareth was said to have entered Jerusalem amidst the cheers and adoration of the crowd.

The irony is that only a few days later, that same crowd would later make up the angry mob that called for his death. According to this minister, the use of the palms for the ashes symbolizes the frailty of human faith and goodness.  It’s a reminder for me to be humble, because I can remember many times when I was self-righteous about something, only to later realize that I was guilty of a far worse offense.

I know my readers come from many different religious backgrounds, so this post may not be that interesting to a lot of you.  But I like the thought of a day dedicated to humility.  I was talking to David Cancel last week and he lamented the sense to entitlement he encounters from people from time to time.  He said that he is a big believer in “servant leadership”, that you should just think about how to solve problems for people, or make life easier for your customers or those you work with. I thought that was a pretty darn good thing to focus on on Ash Wed this year.