Today is the day many people call "Ash Wednesday." I was considering writing a blog post about it and in the midst of my researching the topic I came across an article that is so foundational, balanced, and perceptive regarding the topic that the best thing I can do is honestly just to post it. Here it is:
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Its official name is “Day of Ashes,” so called because of the practice of rubbing ashes on one’s forehead in the sign of a cross. Since it is exactly 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter Sunday, it will always fall on a Wednesday.... The Bible never mentions Ash Wednesday—for that matter, it never mentions Lent.