“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being,” Gen 2:7.
God took dust and made a man. We are the descendants of dust. Eternal souls housed in soil.
We are more than these houses. We begin and go on. and have no ending.
God has no beginning. Yet He became like us–of dust.
Glory to dust to glory again–resurrected, perfected. He walked a dusty way. And on the cross, climbed, then stood atop the mass of all our wrong steps and falls. Glory on a pile of mud and muck.
We are dust to dust. Walking a dirt road with peaks to climb. Later, we travel a new one. But it is one of our choosing. Glory or empty darkness.
People sometimes want to believe we are more than dust yet less than eternal. God remembers how He made us.
“For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust,” Psalm 103:14.
Sometimes as I stumble on the path, I remember I am dust. I cry out as dust to the glorified One. This piece of dust has fallen again.
Again.
The best part of life is realizing I am dust that glory forgives. And I am dust other dust forgives. They see my falls and hug me anyway.
I held too long my parents’ stumbles, blaming them for my own. Then I became a mother. I reached the age they were when I saw or felt their missteps.
I understood their confusion, impatience, exhaustion.
How steep were the great mountains they traversed. My own dusty hill road showed me how hard theirs had been.
How easy it is to be irritable. To watch my patch of dirt and not be mindful of others’ undeveloped trails.
My children walk their own craggy hills. Do they blame me for a jutting rock or glaring crevice?
I am dust who helped set their paths in place. I helped to shape or misshape them. They walk their own paths now, most of them leading others onto their paths.
We cannot alter the path of the past. Dusty moments become cement the instant we step past them.
But love is dust forgiving dust. Our own paths in the world make us bitter or happy. Our path, our climb, lies before us. Like our ultimate destiny, every day is a choice.
Choose to love the dust you encounter every day.
Nancy, this is beautiful. I am dust, and yet in Christ, I am so much more. I can soar in eternity.
Soar in eternity–not longer bound to the earth. Thanks, Jessica. God bless!
Great message. “Choose toto love the dust you encounter every day.”
Thank you, Melissa! God bless!
You remind me of how powerful our influence, especially over our children i s. May we model being “forgiving dust.”
May we, indeed, Beth. Thanks and God bless!
So beautiful, to make a choice every day to love and let go is so important. Thanks for this inspiring post Nancy!
Thank you, Ava. God bless!
Absolutely Beautiful, Thanking God for what He has done for us. Great Post Sister, God Bless!
Thank you, Stephen. I appreciate your enthusiasm. God bless!
How beautiful! I love the line that states how people want to be more than dust yet less than eternal. That puts it in great perspective – we can’t have it both ways. Yet I think I like the concept of being dust to God’s glory – it reminds me of how great my God is and how He loves me no matter what!
Thank you, Emily. It’s so much of a paradox. And Christianity is full of them. Die to live. Be weak to be strong. Being physically dust but eternally a soul. God bless!
Great way to look at dust. Very beautiful. I will never look at dust the sam way again. Thanks Nancy.
Gives new symbolism to dust bunnies, doesn’t it, Yvonne? Thanks and God bless!
Love is dust forgiving dust… Wow. I’m going to have to chew on that for a while. Thanks Nancy!
Chew away, Candice. Thanks and God bless!
Nancy, this was profound and beautiful! Loved these lines: God took dust and made a man. We are the descendants of dust. Eternal souls housed in soil. And: dust forgiving dust. Wow, that’s what we are! May we see ourselves and others as we truly are, soil of the earth made beautiful in the Potter’s hands.
Such a wonderful thought, Melissa–soil in the hands of the Potter. Thanks and God bless!
Nancy, this is beautiful! I just love the way you express things and the deep reflections that are often fresh and new with great depth. Yes, I realize I am but dust, but I never think about it in the ways you penned here! Grateful that love forgives dust and this is awesome:
“The best part of life is realizing I am dust that glory forgives. And I am dust other dust forgives. They see my falls and hug me anyway.”
Thank you very much, Karen. God bless!
What a beautiful post, Nancy. I love this quote, “The best part of life is realizing I am dust that glory forgives. And I am dust other dust forgives. They see my falls and hug me anyway.”
It’s amazing that God loves us, dust as we are; and that other dusts like us love us and we can love them. Dust is so temporary, yet God has given us a soul within this dusty frame that can live forever.
That’s the beauty. Our dust is temporary. Glory is eternal. Thanks, Marcie! God bless!
“But love is dust forgiving dust.” Love that, Nancy. It’s an oddly liberating thing to remember.
I love that, Mitch, oddly liberating. And I agree completely. Thanks and God bless!