Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Bob Reichman.
I find dust annoying. I can clean the coffee table and end tables to a shiny perfection, and not long after I finish admiring my handiwork they’re once again covered with dust. It isn’t fair.
If I vacuum the carpet, I know that I will have to do it again in short order because people and pets are always tramping on it and spreading dirt and other detritus around. I get that. But even if no one touches or even breathes on the wood furniture after I buff it, in no time at all it will soon be dust-coated. Not fair and just plain annoying.
On Ash Wednesday, I’m told that I’m dust and to dust I will return. (Not on someone’s coffee table, I hope.) While that verse from Genesis seems to be referring to a one-time journey, like the subtitle of “The Hobbit” — “There and Back Again”– I think that life more closely resembles the dust cycle of the coffee table. I make a mistake, take a wrong turn, say something I regret, miss a calling, but then I clean it up and vow never to be covered with dust again. But, of course, that lasts about as long as the Vikings in the playoffs.
Jesus’ transfiguration inspires far more awe in Peter, James and John than the shine from my dusting does in visitors to my home. Peter gets so excited, in fact, that he wants to construct permanent dwellings. That’s understandable. But the transfiguration is a one-and-done, while the dust will inevitably return, over and over, just like my failings, forcing me to deal with both in an endless loop.
Jesus later says to let the dead bury the dead, which I take to mean forget about the dust – shake the dust from my feet, wipe it off the coffee table – and move on. Yes, there will be more dust to shake off or clean up, but it’s not worth worrying about. Just concentrate on where to go from here.
Living in God’s story means accepting that not everything will be smooth and that you’ll make plenty of mistakes along the way, leaving a trail of dust wherever you go. Just as I grudgingly must acknowledge that the dust on my coffee table is the inevitable result of particles in the air settling onto surfaces, the dust of our lives comes with being human. God doesn’t expect us to be more than that, just to be a part of God’s story, wherever that leads us.
Prayer
Your story is the whole story, God, and our role is to be a part of it as we make our way through an uncertain, joyful, scary, exciting, discouraging and ultimately blessed life. Help us to recognize the opportunities within your story to share your love with the world.