"From dust you were created, and to dust you shall return."
These sacred words spoken at an Ash Wednesday service, as I received ashes, are continuing to echo in my soul. With the ashes of my confessions and others confessions marked on my hand, I am reminded of my own earthen quality and my un-earthen lifestyle. I look around my room and I am surrounded by things that are made from dust (or chemicals). Even if I live to be 100, my earthen body will fully decay before the things that fill my room have wasted away.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21
I live a fairly simple life, but confess that I have earthly treasures to which I cling and take delight. I have a simple apartment, but confess to filling all of it's available spaces anyway. I don't buy much for myself, but I confess to saying "yes" to more possessions instead of refusing them. I don't want to create unsustainable waste, but confess to giving in to easy temptations wrapped in plastic.
In this Lenten season, may I unclench my fists and release the possessions to which I cling. May I loosen my grip on easy and remember that it is not easy to return plastic to dust. May a creative, intentional spirit be stirred within me, that I would find new, meaningful ways to satisfy my basic needs, without harming creation.
From dust I was created, and to dust I shall return. May it be so.
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