A thought about Ash Wednesday (Mostly for Chadwick)

Every year, seeing smudgey crosses on the foreheads of co-workers reminds me what time of year it is and what day it is.  This year, I decided to do a little research on the mark of the cross.

My understanding is that priests give the mark while giving a short "ashes-to-ashes" recitation ("Remember Man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.").  So it appears to be a memento mori, a reminder of one's own mortality.

This made me think: The Eastern analogue of this is "the transience of all things" found in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism.

So what's the difference between the two?  I think the Western view focuses on the finite and self, while the Eastern view focuses on the infinite and outside the self.

For reasons I don't entirely understand, I think I prefer the Eastern view.

Gregory House, MD on Judaism

Watching the backlog of DVR'd HOUSE episodes while working on some other stuff. In one, Cuddy invites House to her child's baby-naming ceremony, which House calls "a time-honored tradition dating all the way back to the 1960s."

"...Nothing like welcoming a baby into the world with a completely naked display of hypocrisy."

Later:

Cuddy: And there's nothing hypocritical about recognizing your heritage.

House: So you keeping kosher now, wearing four-cornered garments, slaughtering heifers to the god Ra?

[Pause]

Wait, is that one your people?

[Pause]

Do it all, do nothing, or option "c"-- you're a liar and a hypocrite.

Huh. This is pretty much how I feel.