Dust in the Wind
One of my favorite songs from my college days was Dust in the Wind.
Those who are old enough to remember or those who have become fans of the band Kansas probably have the words and music swimming in their heads now that I have mentioned it.
It is not a long song, and the message is short and sweet.
I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes with curiosity
Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind
Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
(Aa aa aa)
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Oh, ho, ho
Now don't hang on
Nothin' lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
(All we are is dust in the wind)
Dust in the wind
(Everything is dust in the wind)
Everything is dust in the wind
(In the wind)
We are just a fleck in a vast universe and we are gone in an instant.
To a college kid, that message was both consoling and depressing. It was helpful to see my life as brief and inconsequential compared to the vastness of existence. It eased the burden of study and tests that were so difficult I felt I could never amount to anything. It was good to know nothing really mattered in the big picture.
On the other hand, that could be depressing as well. What was the point in anything if it was all futile?
As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. - 1 Corinthians 14:48-49
In his first letter to Corinth, Paul hits them with a similar message, but he adds a ray of hope that is missing in the Kansas song. While we are merely dust and will return to it when we are gone, we also bear another image, one that is everlasting, through the Spirit.
We who acknowledge that Christ came to save us from sin have been renewed in hope. We have been given a new image to see in the mirror, the image of us as spiritual beings. The dust shall fall, but the soul within shall rise.
This is a much more positive self-image, one that can propel us forward, rather than beat us down.
As soft and melodic the Kansas song is, it fails to give us hope. We might arrive at that place on our own after listening to it, shedding our material self-image to see what is left, but the song ends before that new image becomes visible.
The hope Paul gives is critical. I need to know there is more to life than the physical and the routine that comes and goes with the sun. Belief in a spiritual self changes everything. Not only does it give me a positive self-image. It also frees me to see all that I can do if I don't let the dust get in the way.