Ash Friday is a time to reflect on creation's fallen nature.
“...till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
We were created from dust - we will return to dust. Ash Friday allows us the opportunity to think about the broken state we were born into, live in, and will die to. Ash, dust, death, decay; it's in the fabric of our humanity. Everything we do is tainted by it, touched by it. Humanity is broken and stained by the mark of death.
Ash Friday is also a time to reflect on the beauty of Christ.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”