A lovely Margaret Renkl New York Times column "The Meaning of Lent to This Unchurched Christian" muses:

... Ash Wednesday isn't a day for rebellion. It's a day for fasting, reflection and prayer, a somber reminder that our lives are brief, our days running out. "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." ...

and

Life is hard for all living things. To make it harder – knowingly and willingly, for even a contained period of time – is a uniquely human exercise. We want to be better than we are. We want living to mean more than surviving. There is something truly beautiful about that impulse, whatever form it takes.

and

... one summer afternoon ... I was sitting in my parents' backyard, listening to a mockingbird sing. Suddenly, inexplicably, a feeling of peace came over me. A feeling of perfect, absolute peace. No voice of reassurance came with it, and no words formed in my own mind to explain it. But if there had been words, they would've sounded something like: "It's OK. Don't worry. It's OK."

and

... Ash Wednesday tells me only to keep trying: to believe, to be better, not to give up hope. ...

(cf Mantra - Give Instead of Giving Up (2020-02-25), Precious and Finite (2020-04-16), ...) - ^z - 2022-03-04