My latest book Korea Courageis now available in paperback format with the e-reader version to be released on Memorial Day, May 25, 2026. A work of historical fiction, Korea Courage, tells the story of a young couple, recently married, whose plans were upended by the Korean War. The book follows a chapter of their early life together, recounting events of 1951-52, as they each found courage to confront the challenges they were facing.
I did not grow up knowing Ash Wednesday. In fact I was probably in my late 30’s when I first attended an Ash Wednesday service. Since that initial experience I have since been to, even led, others. There is one being offered this evening at our church.
While I do not feel a need to be marked with a cross of ash residue on forehead or back of hand, I do respect the acknowledgement of mortality it represents. “From dust you came, to dust you will return”.
We are living in a time when there is a bombastic style of leadership attempting to drown out and overwhelm other messaging. Grandiose proclamations of “the greatest ever” this or that are commonplace. Shouting down and over criticism and questions has become the norm in the public sector. Hyperbolic statements of achievement and exagerated claims of significance reflect an egocentric approach that is, frankly, exhausting. Not only is humility absent, but praise is expected from those who serve alongside one whose unsatiatiable need for recogntion is unmatched. The adulation and acclaim sought seems unquenchable.
It is against this backdrop that Ash Wednesday arrives, an alternate message from an alternate perspective, sitting opposite the noise and bluster of today’s headlines. Ash Wednesday offers a needed reminder of humankind’s created status at the hands and mind of a benevolent Creator. It is about perspective, order, deferance, position – a need to acknowledge and assume a posture of humility. We, flawed and broken beings need the work of a Savior to rescue and redeem us. We are but dust, and to dust we shall return.
In Genesis 2 the account of creation shared states, “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”. (Gen. 2:7) I have always favored this telling of creation because of both the “hands on” nature of God it depicts, as well as the reminder it offers of where we come from. Without God’s creativity and breath, we are but dust.
Most people do not like to think about their mortality, which may be why Ash Wednesday services are so lightly attended. It’s not a popular message. Yet, it’s an important one. Ever since the Fall of humanity, the human being has operated as if we are the center of things, and not God. But Ash Wednesday reminds us that in the end, we are but dust, just as we began. This is not a message of fatalism, but realism. It’s a message of order, humility, deferance, and perspective.
Let us not be fooled, the loudest, brashest and most bombastic messages will not carry the day. Let the dust settle on that.
Images are from Great Sand Dunes National Park – Colorado. A dusty place!
This past Saturday (October 18, 2025), according to some news sources over 7 million Americans joined together at over 2,700 protests held across the United States on what was called “No Kings Day II” (*No Kings Day I was held June 14, 2025). These individuals met in common bond around the concern that the current Presidential Administration is working to subvert democracy and moving at a fast clip in an autocratic direction more common to a dictator or king than what the United States Constitution proscribes for the Executive Branch of our government.
While I was not able to join the local protest due to another obligation, I had loved ones and friends who did participate. Consistent with what has been reported elsewhere, they said the local protest was peaceful, non-disruptive, and made up of people from varied age groups, ethnicities and political allegiance. In other words, it was a gathering held in the spirit of other American protests over the years, acting on the rights of free speech and independent thinking. It was not, as some critics claimed, an anti-American or non-patriotic act of disobedience – there being a distinct difference between disagreement and disobedience.
It seems to me that if over 7 million Americans were willing to give up some of their Saturday to attend and participate in such a protest, there is a significant amount of dissatisfaction being registered concerning the actions of our current Executive and his administration. In short, many people (maybe most people?) are not happy with the autocratic acts of a president who continues to circumvent congressional oversight, and overreach on judicial precedents. Many people are worried about the direction the country is heading and the unwillingness of the other branches of government to act as a check and balance on an out-of-control president.
It is sad to watch our nation turn into a meaner and more isolated version of itself. But this is clearly what is happening under the current administration. Despite the provision in the U.S. Constitution for three co-equal branches of government (legislative, judicial and executive) it seems that two of the three (especially the legislative) have mostly chosen to look the other way while the executive who occupies the people’s house remakes things in his own selfish, mean-spirited likeness. This is contrary to the founders desire that these branches serve as a check to balance the weight of influence and power.
Politics has always been dirty business, and I am sure we could point to periods of history that were fraught with decisions, actions and words filled with vitriol and unproductive outcomes. But surely this time in history will prove to have rivaled them, if we survive it intact and are afforded the opportunity to look back on it one day.
One of the simple lessons that may be most prominent is something we all should have learned in our primary education: meanness unchecked just leads to more meanness.
Do you remember this lesson from the schoolyard? The class bully who was given a free pass on unsavory behavior always took that as permission to increase said behavior. Worse yet, was when the bully garnered a following of kids who praised and fed that behavior. They did this by pouring flattery on the misdeeds of one who showed no conscience or sense of fairness. There’s nothing a bully needs more than to be flattered and made the center of attention.
It seems to me that we are witnessing this today on a much grander scale as national and even world leaders acquiesce to the whims and whiplash actions of an executive who feels he has a blank slate from which to wreak havoc on others. In just a few short months, having doubled down on experience gained from occupying the seat of power once before, this executive has challenged, and somehow blown past, almost every check on his office. It’s as if he can’t quite believe the people gave him the keys to the office again. Neither can I. One thing is certain he isn’t going to give them back without a fight.
danielcash 