{"id":50986,"date":"2020-02-25T16:56:59","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T22:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=50986"},"modified":"2020-03-02T07:51:46","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T13:51:46","slug":"dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/25\/dust\/","title":{"rendered":"Dust"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am dust; to dust I shall always return.
\nBut don\u2019t assume as you disturb my rest<\/p>\n

with your omnipotent kitchen broom that
\nI am mere debris to be swept up and away.<\/p>\n

Remember. We are interfused, you
\nand I, suspended in each other,<\/p>\n

vestigial particles of endless galaxies,
\ndiminishing and becoming, deposited<\/p>\n

but for a moment amid yesterday\u2019s dinner
\ncrumbs and dog hair. Tomorrow?<\/p>\n

I am cyclonic, demanding skeletal trees
\nto dance with me through dry valleys;<\/p>\n

But I am also the cadence of the soil,
\neternity\u00a0dug up in a spade<\/p>\n

and sown with ordinary\u00a0mystery.
\nStill, don\u2019t assume I am magic either,<\/p>\n

or that you are, except when in a distant
\nsun-soaked garden we tango with the departing<\/p>\n

light and time\u2019s muted colors bend onto our
\nbacks and we carry life across ancient seas<\/p>\n

to fertilize the future. Remember. You are
\ndust; to dust you shall forever return.<\/p>\n

I remember reading about dust in the news several years ago. Popular Science<\/i> reported that dust from Asia might be fertilizing sequoias in California (<\/span>http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/asian-dust-california-sequoias<\/span><\/a>). In stark contrast, too many people in our world experience the horrific dust of bombs flattening houses in their communities. Also, dust storms in some geographies can uproot trees, stop traffic, and interfere with visibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taken together during the Christian \u201cdust and ashes\u201d season of Lent, these descriptions of dust remind me of how complex and ordinary, fragile and\u00a0resilient, sometimes life giving and sometimes life-destroying dust-birthed humanity is. I am also reminded that we are connected across complex geographies to each other and to creation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We are dust; to dust we shall return. In between? God calls us to carry in our bones the light of Gospel justice and hope.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am dust; to dust I shall always return. But don\u2019t assume as you disturb my rest with your omnipotent kitchen broom that I am mere debris to be swept up and away. Remember. 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