West End holds two identical Ash Wednesday Services of the Imposition of Ashes, one at noon and one in the evening.  In contrast to our Shrove Tuesday Jazz Mass, which is a celebratory service, on Ash Wednesday we turn our hearts and minds to the introspection and meditation of the Lenten season, using the sign of the cross in ashes on our foreheads as a symbol of that shift.  The Rev. Carol Cavin-Dillon gives the homily, “To Show or Not To Show,” initially asking whether when we leave the service we will wipe the ashes off our foreheads or will leave the ashes there for others to see.  The scripture for the service, from the Matthean version of the Sermon on the Mount, seems to give us both answers, and so, “It depends.”  There is much to encourage us to act in service and ministry, with the ashes reminding us whose we are.   (NOTE: A pdf of the program is available below to view and/or download.)