Dust. What Is It Good For?

In his famous poem The Wasteland, T.S. Eliot quoted a first-century prose work:

‘Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Σί�™υλλα τί θέλεις; respondebat illa: άποθανεîν θέλω.’

This is translated: “As I saw with my own eyes the Sibyl at Cumae hanging in a cage, and when the boys said to her: 'Sibyl, what do you want?' she answered: 'I want to die.'”

The wasteland, a symbol of the spiritual desolation and decay in the modern world, is a central theme in Eliot's work and a powerful metaphor for the state of humanity and the need for spiritual renewal.

Sibyl asked for a long life but failed to ask for eternal youth. Bit by bit, she disintegrated away. A line from this work has become quite famous: “I will show you fear in a handful of dust.”

Why does this line resonate? Fear walks with mankind. We are dust and return to dust. This disintegration frightens the world. The pursuit of Botox, diets, plastic surgeries, and exercise is to stop this return to dust. Others have a different way to stop the fear. They avert their eyes and focus on movies, games, porn, sports�"anything to distract them enough to escape the ever-present fear. Still others throw themselves into work or hobbies to keep their minds too busy to dwell on the grave which awaits.

These are worldly ways to view death, and they are the result of “fear in a handful of dust.” However, the Bible tells us time and time again not to fear. If death and dust is our destiny, what is our purpose? Some Christians focus solely on the future hope of heaven. Our transcendent nature, divine sons made in God’s image is not without problems if it becomes our only aim. This is an averting of the eyes instead of an understanding of our walk. To see ourselves as stardust, to see salvation as the stairway to heaven, leads to arrogance and pride.

These two extremes�"the hopelessness of earthly dust and the arrogance of stardust�"are not the Way. Let’s see if we can ferret out the correct path.

Gathering In​

Thus, we have two extremes�"the disgust and fear of dusty bodies and the superiority and self-satisfaction of eternal souls. Our salvation often becomes propositional; I’ll do this (whatever this entails) and God will save me. We avoid our earthly walk to reach for the stars.

How do we avoid the extremes of believing dust is meaningless or believing our destiny awaits in heaven? Humanity and divinity must be held in tension.

The return to dust can be confused with hopelessness. But if we become brave, the dust is seen with clear eyes and creates a longing for something we cannot quite name. This is the beginning of wisdom. The Way is not propositional but existential, the agape Way that brings happiness to the self and to the community.

Here’s the Thing:

Dust is not meaningless.

Dust holds the potential for new life, for growth, for transformation. Sometimes, this is not for the individual but for those who follow behind. Job, covered in boils, sat down by the ashes to use a potsherd to scrape himself (Job 2:8). His “dust” mingled with the ashes at his feet. From this “good soil,” Job answered his wife’s demand to curse God and die. “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips (verse 10).”

Job teaches surprising lessons as we search for meaning in a lost and decaying world. Like Job, we are trapped in bodies that betray us as death draws near. To dwell too much on our humanity, this dusty life, is to fall prey to despair. However, within this dusty body resides the soul. The body, the soil, the dust-covered soul is where the seeds are planted.

Jesus came to give us abundant life in the here and now. How? He says we must eat the “fruit,” His flesh, and die. Our “flesh” must become dust to be given the new body and the new spirit. We are born again.

Humanity at its core is the unveiling of the Holy Spirit within�"the manifestation of the feminine, the Body.

Divinity at its core is the revelation of the Father above�"the manifestation of the masculine, the Mind.

Divinity within humanity reflects God’s image�"the manifestation of the soul, the Christ within.

Christians have been taught to despise humanity. Many describe men as the weak worms of Job 25:6. Any softness or weakness makes it difficult for some to hide their disgust. This view is often equated with the feminine role. This humanity role of women becomes a humble, submissive attitude and is praised but is not the Way. Some women revel in their role and often subject themselves to men, to their children, to their parents, or even to other women. Men, on the other hand, take on the veneer of the masculine and become domineering and disdainful.

These long-held behaviors of men and women have become familiar to us, a way men and women interact. Even the church has latched onto this interaction of men and women as biblically ordained, but it is not. This is worldly, not Christlike. For men to dominate and women to subserviently submit is not Christlike. For men to demean and women to cower is certainly not biblical. And yet we see this happening in marriages and in sexual abuse scandals that rock both our society and our churches.

Strangely, the domination by men and the meek submission by women often seems to be what both sexes want. This way of interacting has become tropes in women romance novels, for instance, and women love these stories. Why if this is neither biologically nor scripturally inherent? Because neither women nor men know what they long for. We are the dust returning to dust. Fear blinds us.

Men and women are led astray by wrong teachings, including from stories, movies, video games, and other media. The world’s emphasis on pursuing pleasure by submission and domination seems right but is sinful and harmful. More women than men, it seems, are waking up to this. Many are still floundering because to understand is difficult; to practice is rare.

Society is changing and changing quickly, and we make little progress in the correct iteration of the feminine and masculine. Paul foretells the “dust’s” transformation thusly: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body (Romans 8:22-23).”

The “body,” this “dust,” is to be redeemed. Not used, not despised, not discarded. Redeemed. Freed. “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you (Romans 8:11, emphasis mine).” “To quicken our mortal bodies by his Spirit” is to integrate divinity within our humanity. It is to live fully upon the earth, within our mortal bodies wherein the Spirit dwells. This is the Way.

Women model the “body” here upon the earth, and this leads to our confusion. While it’s easy to see women as bodies, as the means to bring life into the world, the means to bring pleasure to men, the means to toil for little recognition, that is not the biblical model.

Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:28-29).” If we are all one, no one dominates.

God’s portrayal of the Masculine Mind, the Feminine Body, and the integrated Soul shows us how to be on the correct path.

The Feminine Body imports the Masculine Father. The result? The Begotten Son. The Soul. “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).” The Holy Spirit brought “the power of the Highest.” The Highest is the Father. Jesus said that if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father. The “dust” of our bodies houses the Spirit that gives rise to our souls.

We often forget that this is still happening today. The Father is still being brought to humanity by the Spirit. The Logos is planted in our dusty bodies to become united souls. This is Abraham’s seed, Eve’s seed, still being sown in us today.

This dusty relic in the world that we call the church is being transformed by Christ to rise to the Father in glory. Why? To transform the world and to reconcile the world to Christ.

And it is the Holy Spirit, the Feminine Body, that leads us upward. The Holy Spirit is not subject to anyone. Jesus said, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:8).” This is the reason Christ came�"to unbind us from any and all earthly authority by freeing the Spirit within us.

Reaching Out​

Abundant life begins when the Holy Spirit transforms our dusty, earthly bodies to live eternally. When we destroy the “deeds of the body,” disintegrating to dust within us, our walk becomes attuned to Christ.

The abundant life with Christ is in the here and now and is the ride on the wings of the dove to heaven above. Salvation is Divinity within our humanity. This is not propositional, not bound, but free and abundant.

To return to the crux of the matter, the feminine and masculine are two ways of interacting in the world, not our biological sexes. The male is the model of divinity, and the female humanity but they are representations only. Each person must integrate divinity within their human body.

Women frequently portray more of the feminine and men more of the masculine, but each person must hold the feminine and masculine in tension within them. This tension becomes our search for connection, not only with God but with fellow humans. This, God proclaims in the first chapter of Genesis, is “very good.”

And that brings up another point. This connection between male and female will balance us. An extremely masculine man who yields to a beautiful godly feminine woman will be guided in the Way. And vice versa. But most are a mixture of the feminine and masculine who unite in marriage to another who has both, and they integrate together to balance the human and the divine.

Masculine and feminine traits are easy to discern because those that are innate are few. The masculine godly characteristics summed up by power include order, justice, and strength. Feminine godly traits culminate in beauty and include creation, mercy, and wisdom. Most would agree that these masculine traits are more often seen in men while the feminine are more often seen in women but must be balanced in each Christian. In the best marriages, individuals, and societies, order sustains creation, mercy tempers justice, and wisdom guides strength.

Here’s the Kicker​

Divine power and human beauty must coexist properly to bring meaning into our short, dust-becoming lives here upon the earth.

Humans are the beautiful reflection of God, the “very good” proclaimed at Man’s creation, not despised worms. The masculine does not disdain the beautiful feminine; the feminine does not cower before the masculine. Instead, the two are integrated.

When we misunderstand, dust is feared. Our culture goes awry. Too much of the feminine becomes the smothering maternal, the devouring mother who flings us into chaos. This is seen in some aspects of the “Woke.” On the other hand, too much of the masculine, often deemed toxic patriarchy, is equally as dangerous and fosters rebellion and falls from within. 'Toxic patriarchy' refers to a social system that values traditional masculine traits over feminine traits, often to the detriment of both men and women. Intense male and female struggles, instead of Christian integration, saps our energy, angers, and divides.

Proper integration is right and good and makes us “finished.” Unfortunately, we seldom see integration, even among Christians. What impact does our misunderstandings have in our world? The Machine thrives. The Machine is a metaphor for the interplay that separates and pits the masculine against the feminine. The competitive masculine fuels our capitalist and consumerism economic system. The devouring feminine seen in governmental programs attempts to allay fears by overcompensating, promising to right all wrongs and grant all wishes. This unholy alliance brings war and threatens to collapse our country and each of us individually. The Machine increases anxiety and depression.

Let's take a brief moment to consider why. Plurality is the chaotic end of the devouring feminine. The farther left we go on the political spectrum, the more plurality we find. When all wishes are granted, when unrestrained freedom is the norm, people become extremists. Conformity is eschewed although, ironically, is also the end result. The American Democratic Party finds it difficult to agree on a platform because loosening all norms means no coherent standards exist. Why does this result in conformity? Far extremes have boundaries. Once that boundary is reached, conformity results. Think of this as chaotic conformity that is a cacophony of blaring notes; the cacophony makes life almost unbearable.

On the other hand, singularity becomes the telos of the dominating masculine. Often, laws and regulations become unbending, and strict adherence is demanded. Singularity is not unity, not harmony, but the pulling into a black hole that devours all. This is the holding of a single note; the monotonous tone makes life appear dull and meaningless.

Winding Up​

The masculine is often seen in the far right and the feminine in the far left. These competing ideologies are bringing the threat of collapse. Luckily, in their wisdom, the United States Founding Fathers paved the way for balance and unity by enshrining principles in our Bill of Rights. These rights, including freedom of speech, freedom to pursue happiness, and freedom to worship, are the pillars on which our unity stands. The freedom of speech liberates voices and minds. The freedom to pursue happiness empowers individual bodies to live as they choose. The freedom of worship allows souls to serve God individually and within the community. This interplay brings harmony and makes life thriving and exciting.

The correct iteration of freedoms is the correct play between the masculine and feminine. When minds and bodies are integrated, the soil, the dust of humanity, becomes enriched to grow souls. What do we need to enrich the soil? Faith, hope, and love.

And the greatest is love. This love is the Logos growing in our dust, the seed sown in the good soil.

The meaning of dust is to become the good soil. This alleviates fear and leads us to God. May it be so.

Amen.

(I use the King James Version unless otherwise noted.)