Episode 96 - Remember O man thou art dust

The symbolism of ashes goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 where God is telling Adam the consequences of his sin. He tells him that the ground, the earth has been cursed and now since Adam broke the fast and ate the forbidden fruit his eating from now on –all the days of your life- will be in sorrow. He goes on: Through thorns and thistles and sweat and toil and pain will Adam eat and to make matters worse- in the end his eating will not result in life anyway. His painful eating will prolong his painful life but in the end he will return to the dust from which he came. “For dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return”