What does Ash Wednesday mean to you?

One of our family friends had Malaise some time ago. Thank God, things didn’t get worst. However, when we paid him a family visit at the Hospital, my father jokingly said, “Man, you almost kicked the bucket”. Adding, “If you did, how we would have transported your remains to the village in this economic destitution? “Easy,” he replied. “I would have been cremated”, he yarned in response.

By Yemti Harry Ndienla

These actually triggered a chain of other jokes and lungs opening discussions. Well, the issue here is not to talk about our family friend but the fact that cremation at death is becoming more popular.
For various reasons people are opting to have their remains burned to ash rather than buried for posterity in a casket. Some people take flight ashes of dead relatives, though i believe in many cases such a practice is forbidden by law. Some keep the ashes in a memorial garden while others situate the urn of ashes in a special place at home.
Some people opt for cremation because it is cheaper than burial. But i like to think many people opt for cremation because it helps family members to face the reality of life and death. Cremation really does return the deceased to the substance from which we all come: dust.
This acknowledgment that God made us out of nothing can be a terrific jiffy of grace and thanksgiving when looked at through the eyes of faith.
Our lives are more than just flesh and bone. It is by faith that we live and die. Ashes remind us of that truth. Cremation enables us to focus on our spiritual existence with God and our call to eternal life. Ash Wednesday is not unlike a funeral in the sense that we recognize where we come from and remember what is important: faith in Christ which brings eternal life. Receiving ashes reminds us that everything else must pass away.
For your reflection:
Would you prefer burial to cremation and why? What does Ash Wednesday mean to you? Will you attend Mass this coming Ash Wednesday?