No Dust
Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.
On this first day of Lent, those are the words that come to mind, and they are the words I will hear when I receive my ashes. The words are from Genesis, chapter 3, verse 19:
"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.”
God tells this to Adam after he and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge.
It is a bit ironic, I think, that the serpent had just told Eve she would not die if she ate of it, and here God tells them what he meant when he said they would.
Dust has no form, no life, no moisture or breath. It covers the earth and falls from the sky when mountains explode. It is the symbol of penance, used by Job and others to cover themselves when in need of forgiveness, or when in deep sorrow and pain.
It is said that 90% of the dust we encounter in our homes comes from us and our clothing. We shed tiny particles of skin and it falls on everything we encounter.
Dust mites love us. They live off what we shed.
When we grab a tissue from the box, toss our clothes on the bed, brush our hair, or stroke a pet, we add to the dust that falls around us. It is a sign of life and death.
One year in high school, I sat at a desk that had the words, "No Dust" carved into the wood. I was immediately fascinated by them.
What did they mean? And why take the time to carve them into the desk?
I recall that it was shortly after the lunar landing with the images of Armstrong's boots stirring up dust on the moon fresh in my mind. Even on the moon where there is no life, there is dust.
Where is there no dust?
I took the words to be a motto of sorts for me. My friends and I would use the phrase to mean there is nothing else to say on a topic. We would use it to resolve conflict, to put a matter to rest, to leave it be and go.
It was a bit like the message from Jesus to his disciples to shake the dust off their heals and move on when rejected.
This Lenten season, these forty days, I will strive to leave no dust where I go, to cause no lingering issues or fragments of my views, my prejudices, my ego to fall on those I encounter, on the steps I take.
I will fail, for it is not something I can truly prevent, and I believe that will be the message I take away from my period of introspection. Wherever I go and whomsoever I encounter, there I leave my dust.
Then, let it cause no harm.
More to come...