In reminding us that "You are from dust, and to dust you shall return," Ash Wednesday isn't advocating nihilism or self-flagellation.
It's warning us not to commit idolatry by clinging to life as the greatest good. It's a gift, to be sure, but it's a temporal gift by design. There are far more important things than preserving life at all cost - if there weren't, the story of the cross would be one of failure.
The message of the cross isn't that life triumphs over all, but that death does NOT. And the absence of death isn't necessarily life - at least, not biological life. Life, too, comes to an end. But Love - Love never ends. Love is where we should place our confidence and our hope. God *gives* life, but God *is* Love.
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