Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, a time of renewal, repentance, and preparation for the Easter feast. Ashes, typically made from dried palm branches from the prior year’s Palm Sunday celebration, are a potent sign of our mortality. In taking stock of the brevity of human life, we also reflect on the areas of our lives that are estranged from God’s presence, and resolve to turn again towards God’s boundless mercy and love.