Speak the phrase ‘ashes to ashes-dust to dust’ and most folks with a few decades of life staring back at them through the rearview mirror may recall the eulogy of a recently departed loved one.
A eulogy evokes a serious mindset forcing an introspective look which is sometimes brief, but always sobering. Listening to a eulogy, some may sit stoically, cloaked in solipsism, while others moved by the meaning of dust and ash, breathe a solemn vow for change.
Death is perhaps the most questioned event known to mankind; the unsolved mystery of life which dredges up fear and unbridled worry to many people. But – it’s through this unavoidable corridor, each person on earth will walk.
I mulled the words ‘ashes to ashes’ when I researched Kerry Livgren’s lyrics Dust in the Wind from his album Point of No Return released in the late 70’s. Livgren’s musical hit performed by Kansas, climbed the charts back in the 70’s resonating with pop culture with its simple message: we are here briefly, and then gone. Hence, the title “Dust in the Wind.”
While the song Dust in the Wind brought notoriety to Kansas and perhaps a remembrance of life’s brevity, the Apostle James coined some two thousand years earlier a similar phrase, when he asks the question . . . for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away.
(James 4:14 KJV)
As a body of people in the 21st century we are planners, schedulers, managers of time to the nth degree. We map out goals yearly, beginning with January 1: our work week, our day, then each hour of our day. Each minute is accounted for until life quells the pre-midnight hour in an eddy of strained exhaustion. Often our hunt for the golden egg is viewed through the monocle of chronic stress and fatigue as we forge our way down the street marked “Getting Ahead,” “Staying Afloat,” or “Keeping Up with the Joneses.”
Meanwhile the unspoken question weighing in the balance of our busy lives is: to what end?
Why is it that we plan and schedule all of life’s activities without regard to the most important one: Death?
The earth is temporal, but the soul is eternal.
Given this fact – the soul lives forever, should we not then plan for meaningful experiences which live beyond our own mortality? Should we not see beyond the tangible, touching what will outlive our current state? Should we not then strive to include others into our own personal sphere, investing in relationships, pouring ourselves out in love, building and loving humanity - as if each human were our blood descendent?
Livegren’s last stanza in Dust in the Wind is poignantly sobering:
Now, don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy
The songwriter implies even after acquiring success and fame, in the end, when life is broken down, we are all just the same: we live, dream, struggle, hope.
And we die.
Livegren’s words spoke to a generation aware of their smallness; by these lyrics one may conclude not much can or could be done to change the outcome.
Conversely, Jesus used dust to make changes in the lives he touched, his sphere of influence went beyond his chosen twelve - and out into the world. In the same manner, you and I were created to change the world around us using resources and gifts placed within our character and in our hands.
Divinely designed, dust serves a purpose; we are but dust. (Genesis 2:7) The Old Testament reveals how God formed Man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. In the New Testament, Jesus mixed dust particles with moisture, producing a claylike substance, which when applied to the eyes of a blind man, wrought a miraculous healing.
The object lesson here? Dust in and of itself lies stagnant until it comes in contact with an element in nature, be it wind, water or chemical. As human beings, our souls are spiritual dust which never truly enjoy or embrace complete satisfaction or fulfillment until we come in contact with the oil of His Spirit.
For It is God who gives us breath and life and only He can satisfy our deepest longings. (John 10:10) When the soul of man connects with eternity it is radically and forever changed.
Essays like this are sobering but hit a mark few would dare to explore: eternity and the end of self. The journey to the grave removes our earthly vestures of prominence, title and rank. But, unlike life, in death, there's no pride, arrogance, position or status. We are but dust.
(Genesis 2:7)
My friend, whatever you’re struggling with in life right now, bring your ‘dust’ to Jesus. He will mix it with the water of His Spirit, and like the blind man, create everlasting change in your life.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels. 2 Cor 4:7
