Dust

Pastor's Pen - March 2025

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

                Genesis 3:19

 What is dust? It’s small; it’s nothing. When we notice dust at all, it is only to try to remove it, to get it away from us. Dust is the remnant of something, and usually the discarded remnant at that. When Jesus was sending the disciples out in pairs to visit the surrounding villages, he told them that, if they were not welcomed, they should shake the dust of the town off their feet as they departed. Dust gets no respect.

And yet, we are dust. God took the dust of the earth, adamah in Hebrew, and molded it into Adam. God breathed into Adam to give him life. This combination of God’s breath and created dust is the root of both all our potential and all our problems. We are so much more than dust because we are animated by God’s breath. We are no more than dust because for all our knowledge, all our goals and aspirations, we cannot do what God can do. We can imagine it, we can speak about it, we can yearn for it, but we cannot do it. We are not God. We are dust with dreams of the holy.

It is important, especially during Lent, to remember that we are dust. The fact that we are something more than dust for a time does not change the fact that it is only for a time. We will, each of us, return to dust one day. This is the order of things. Because we will return to dust, it is important to live our lives with this fact always in our awareness. Too often we live our lives as if we will never die. Many people refuse to even think about their own death, or the deaths of loved ones, much less actually talk about it. ‘If we just don’t say anything, maybe it won’t happen.’ But it always does.

Hospice workers know this all too well. They routinely see patients who are at peace with dying yet have loved ones who are wrapped up in knots because they have not done anything to prepare themselves for the patient’s death. Some loved ones refuse even to acknowledge that the hospice patient is dying. Denial of death is strong in our culture, and that denial eventually causes so much more pain than any uncomfortable discussion about death could ever cause.

This Lenten season, as you contemplate your relationship with God and look for ways to strengthen it, remember that you are mortal. Remember what that means. It means that someday you will cease to exist here on earth. It also means that you will then be in God’s eternal presence, where mortality is no longer a concern. But while you are earthside, an awareness of the limitations of dust is a good and healthy thing. And as you strengthen your relationship with God, strengthen your relationships with your loved ones. Talk openly and honestly about death when appropriate. Make a will. Even more importantly, make a Living Will. Be sure your loved ones know your wishes regarding end-of-life treatments and procedures. Do not leave your loved ones to make difficult decisions in the midst of their own grieving.

We know, each of us, that we are mortal. Because of this, we come before God with humble and repentant hearts, yearning to be closer to that which we are not. Yet we also know we must live our lives with full awareness of our mortality. And we live secure in the knowledge that, however many days we have, God is with us through all of them. ‘Be not afraid, for I am with you. I have called you by name, and you are mine.’

God never sweeps away the dust.

Pastor Shawn