“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
For He knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.” Psalm 103:13-14, CSB
Oh the lies we tell ourselves to prop up the false self and the ego! We pridefully delude ourselves with the myth of the self-made, the self-made businessperson, the self-taught athlete or artist, the self-made millionaire or billionaire. Of course, with almost haunting vocals and guitar, the classic rock group Kansas tried to tell us we are only “Dust in the Wind,” singing “nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky, it slips away and all your money won’t another minute buy.” Yet we almost deify the persona of the supposedly self-made even though the wisdom writer of Ecclesiastes articulates such futile pursuits as “chasing after the wind.”
In Psalm 103 we are reminded of God’s steadfast love and mercy, of God’s forgiveness that reaches as far as the east is from the west, of God who heals, redeems, forgives and loves. And in this very Psalm, we are told God has compassion on those who fear him for God knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust. Yes, indeed, the spirit returns to the Lord who gave it, and the body returns to the dust of the ground from whence it came.
As I reflect upon dust, earth, humanity and Lent, my mind goes to Ash Wednesday. Perhaps as the ashes are imposed on our foreheads in the shape of the cross, we are seeking to agree with what God remembers and knows, that we are dust. And in so agreeing with God, we are disagreeing with the possibility of being self-made. See, God created the heavens and the earth and God created humanity from the dust he made, from “God dust” if you will. Clinging to being self-made is actually refusing that which makes us truly special, and that is that we are God-made and formed into divine image bearers.
Lent is a sojourn where we dare to allow the false self to be revealed and crucified with Christ. That can be painful. Yet the sign of the cross reveals the steadfast, radical love of God and that is beautiful.
PRAYER
O God, humble us by reminding us that we are dust. Remove from us all delusions of being independent or self-made and instill in us yet again your steadfast love and mercy prominently displayed on the Cross. In the name of the one who loved us and gave his life for us, amen.
submitted by Pastor Tiger Pennington