Ash is a weird element - not something we tend to think about a lot, and yet it plays a major role in how our environment works, well beyond what we reflect on during Ash Wednesday. Most of us know ash as the solid, somewhat powdery substance that is left over after any fuel undergoes combustion - and yes, our old palm sunday crosses are indeed a fuel, not one for heating perhaps but one that we use at Christ Church Vienna as the base for our Ash Wednesday ashes.  Yet, ash is so much more than a left over from a combustion process. Having once visited the tallest trees in the world in Redwood National Park, I remember a Ranger explaining how the wildfires helped the sequoias forests grow - not only because the heat cracked open the cones that held the seeds for new trees, but also because the fires left behind ashes full of nutrients, enriching the soil. So choosing ash as a symbol to remind us of everlasting life seems to have been a smart thing - at least when considering the fertilizing effect of many ashes.