What they need to hear

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Remember that you are dust...or sand, and salt, and water, and all sorts of decomposed matter.

I got into a conversation with a couple of friends recently about what we are saying to our congregations as we smudge a cross of ash on people's heads and repeat the phrase, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." In one sense it remembers the second creation story in the book of Genesis when God forms the human from the dirt. It also recalls that our bodies are composed of recycled material that died, fell to the earth, fed plants, was processed by our mothers through food, and eventually, that old decomposed material began to form us, and then we started taking in the food (from the dust) and processing it ourselves. It recalls the miraculous quality of our very existence! It helps me to recollect that I've come from the prima materia of the earth, and yes, I will someday return to it again to eventually fertilize another garden for another generation.

Sand art by Eli (3)
Remembering that we are and will be dust recalls the finitude of my earthly existence. "Remember, James, that you weren't always here, and you won't always be here." Not like this, anyway. What we have is now: this precious moment. We never quite got around to eating the fruit of the tree of life, so we cannot live forever. It's quite amazing that we are alive at all. So how shall we spend this fleeting moment? Since God has breathed life into my particular composition of recycled materials I call my body, what shall I do with myself? How will I spend this precious time in this body-soul configuration? What was the concept God had in mind at my conception?

This season of lent invites us to shrug off those things that distract us from the awareness of God's presence. In becoming aware of our mortality (dust, returning to dust) we might value this God given time, and spend it wisely. Notice! Notice the beauty of a sunrise. Notice the laugh of a child's voice. Use your amazing body in was that brings you joy. Run, jump, surf, hug. Sit still and do nothing but appreciate. The time is now. Take a deep breath, and thank God for that one deep breath. Then let it go, as you will let your body go one day.

I don't think giving up stuff for Lent is really all that helpful to God, unless it clears the way for other, better stuff like friendship with God. We've (in Port Aransas) already given up a lot of stuff; it seems like lent started about 6 months ago. Right now, we might just look at ourselves, made of dust, one day to become dust again, and deeply value our life. Maybe we could give up forgetting that we are miraculous creatures! Give up forgetting we are alive right now. Remember, you are dust.

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