Every year many Christians mark the beginning of Lent by having their foreheads marked with ashes with the sign of the cross.  The minister pronounces, “Remember that you are dust and to dust, you shall return.” It is a solemn service, and people come forward with sober faces. Once when I was officiating a service, a man came forward looking like he was about to face a firing squad, as if I might immediately turn him to dust. He approached me and whispered, “Whose ashes are those?” I quickly explained they were not human remains, but burned palm branches. But what I wanted to say, with an ominous tone, was, “They are yours.” That might have been too much for him to handle.

In a way, I would have been telling the truth. That’s what they represent. They serve as a wakeup call. One day we will all be something like a little pile of ashes. It’s a startling fact. And that’s the whole purpose of Ash Wednesday. It is to startle us a bit into remembering that life is short, and we don’t know when we will become dust. It is a fact of each of our futures.

It’s easy to slide along in life, living without any reflection of it. We need wakeup calls.

Mine happened about six years ago. I was sitting in a small restaurant having lunch with the choir director of our church, and all of a sudden, I had to get out. My heart was racing, I was sweating, and I thought I might pass out. It was an anxiety attack. As I looked back over the previous few months, I realized it wasn’t my first. It had happened on a plane, and at a preaching conference, I was leading. The next Sunday morning, I sat in my study and wondered if I could step out to go lead worship. A voice from within said, “Go and engage with people. I will be with you. Once the first hymn begins, you will be fine.” And I was. But I wasn’t. I knew then that my life had to change.

My anxiety ringing out like an alarm bell was my spirit crying out, “I NEED YOUR ATTENTION!” I had not been attending to my spiritual health, which must seem strange to some of you because I am a minister. I deal with spiritual things all the time. Pastors, however,  are notorious self-neglecters. We love to take care of other people but often ignore our own needs. But sooner or later, it catches up with everyone, including spiritual professionals.

I remember when I first moved to New York City. I got into a cab and noticed that the cab’s check engine light was on. I said, “Hey, buddy. Your engine light is on.” He smiled and said, “It’s always on. It’s ok.” I had my doubts about that. I wonder, though, if many people have engine lights on and just ignore it because nothing immediately seems wrong. Over time you don’t even notice anymore, until one day your engine catches on fire and it’s too late to do anything about it.

Is your check engine light flashing? Are alarm bells ringing? Do you have even some vague sense that something is not right or that life could be much better than it is? It’s time to pay attention and take a look under your hood. The GPS Spiritual Inventory is a proven tool for diagnosing your spiritual health. It is a way to begin paying attention to the one thing about you that lasts forever: your spirit.

Ash Wednesday is a perfect day to pay attention to your spiritual life. Actually, every day you are alive is a perfect day to attend to your spiritual life. Because one day, those ashes will be your ashes.

“Remember that you are dust and to dust, you shall return.”

Rev. Dr. Paul Burns, Executive Director and Founder of Soul Metrics