Dusting

“Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return  . . . “

These words echo in my heart  as I think about the upcoming Ash Wednesday. This year has been marked by the loss of so many lives, in our nation, in my family and perhaps in yours. Life is such a precious gift and Ash Wednesday reminds us of this.  

Several Ash Wednesdays ago I officiated at a memorial service for Bob Johnson, a former choir director of Peace UCC. Bob so loved music and his service was mostly that.  Bob played as a percussionist for the Duluth Superior Symphony and the Twin Ports Wind Orchestra. Just a week before, Bob had risen at 2 am as he did every workday, gathered his newspapers and began delivering them to folks on his route.  The ice from the day before left the roads and sidewalks slippery. Sometime around 7 am he fell hard and hit his head.  Because he was on a blood thinner, the fall proved to be fatal to him.  His life, a life that was filled with music, attention to detail, love of Gooseberry Falls and his family was over so quickly and unexpectedly.  “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return, but the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. “

 None of us knows how much time we have here on this earth and really this is what makes life so very precious.   We are part of this fragile creation.  This means we are called to live each day creatively, passionately and as lovingly as we can.  As Daniel Deffenbach wrote in Seeds of Shalom,  “Like Adam being brought forth from the earth, I want to wear on my forehead the ashes of creation. I want to take strange comfort in the fact that from dust I came and to dust I shall return. I want to look at those who are close to me and remember how much their lives have enriched my own. I will also remember how my lifestyle choices affect those whom I may never see, both human and nonhuman.”         

 Let us too remember for we too never know how much time we have.  Ashes mark us with this finite truth. But ashes are not the final word.   Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return,  but the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.   I was always so moved as I said these words and put ashes on the foreheads of members of my congregation.  People of all ages marked with ash and hope.   For life is stronger than death and love is stronger than hate.  Yes, the music of Bob’s life continues in an even greater symphony.  

We can step out in hope, even on the most slippery of days, for the steadfast love of the Lord does endure forever.