Ashes, Snow and Dust

Marked with ashes today, I came home and read some good things, eg. John F. Kavanaugh's brief article "Try the Asceticism of Truth" in America, the Jesuit magazine.  I fully agree with his assertion that "...spiritual wisdom...tell(s) us that asceticism of the ego ... is more important..." because just giving up things can still leave us "radically self-centered or deluded." 


And then I remembered a wonderful  2006 exhibit at the Santa Monica Pier:  Ashes and  Snow. It was housed in "the nomadic museum", a  56,000 square-foot  temporary structure constructed of 152 steel cargo containers, stacked 34 feet high.  The setting, the photographic prints and the 35mm film were wonderful and very unique.  The artist, Gregory Colbert, admirably creative.


So today I am reminded that the senses need to be fed and starved, or at least moderated.  And ashes, snow and dust don't last.  And the mythological flying elephants, too heavy for their wings, do indeed fall to earth and transform into a beautiful mountain range.  


Perhaps  the website and images at ashesandsnow.org  can still be accessed.  I will try it. (Though I do have a few cherished cards from the exhibit, maybe a friend will take a look.)  And now, I'll keep striving for a sound and realistic perspective on persons, places and events. Otherwise, I'd waste the potential this day of ashes holds when it urges reflection on the stages of life, the meaning of life, and the wisdom early Christian hermits imparted: "Memento Mori."