On Ash Wednesday, some faithful appear reluctant to wear belief on their foreheads What's the deal? Norton asked. It's Ash Wednesday. It's a reminder of our dependence on God,"" said the Rev. Peter Schell, a compact, 32-year-old Episcopal priest, offering a one-line summation about the start of Lent and the reason he was standing at a train station offering to etch a jarring religious mark on people's foreheads as they headed for offices that, on the surface, would largely appear faith-free. "Huh," Norton said non-committedly before moving on toward a Union Station exit and his job as a mobile app designer for PBS. In fact Norton, a devout Catholic, had a lot more to say about wearing ashes. He planned to get them during a midday Mass near his office. Through Ash Wednesdays of his life, he's picked the time to receive the mark of Christian faith based on "how self-confident I'm feeling" about sharing his beliefs. Also, based on a few other things, like how empathetic he's feeling toward people who have felt rejected by the Catholic Church, or religion in general. Or whether he feels he's wearing his Christianity for pure, selfless reasons and not "showing my faith in a pompous way." This is the sort of reflection Schell and other priests had hoped to bring about when they took to Union Station and a handful of Metro stops around the region at morning rush hour to offer ashes and a prayer - an acknowledgment that many Americans are no longer coming to houses of worship, so the houses of worship need to come to them. While Catholics are the Christians most closely associated with wearing ashes, mainline Protestants - including Episcopalians - also follow that tradition. And evangelicals are becoming more interested in ancient practices like Lent and Ash Wednesday, a sign that once-solid borders between faith groups are breaking down in many directions as people blend beliefs and rituals. In the last few years, more than 200 Protestant congregations have starting offering ashes to the public on Ash Wednesday, according to Ashes to Go, a national Protestant organization that began the public offerings about five years ago. The day marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of reflection and fasting which ends on the Thursday before Easter. The public displays come at a time when Americans are increasingly wary of openly professing their spiritual identities. In an increasingly pluralistic society, some see overtly religious jewelry or T-shirts, or even an ancient, liturgical ritual like ashes during Lent as a possible imposition on others who do not share the same beliefs. Two decades of data from the Barna Group, a major research firm on U.S. religion, shows young Americans becoming less and less likely to want to share their faith, said David Kinnamon, Barna's president and author of several books on young Christians.