Why Aren't There Ashes on the Steeple?

The ashes of Ash Wednesday mark our bodies with a deeply existential crisis: our death is unavoidable, even as we live.

The ashes are dead matter smeared on our living bodies. They stir our imaginations of grieving prophets dressed in sackcloth, heads covered in ashes. They remind us of our loved ones who have passed, some of whom chose to become ashes through cremation.