When God chose dust as His artistic medium to create Adam (Gen. 2:7), He
didn’t have to worry about running out of material. According to Hannah Holmes,
author of The Secret Life of Dust, “Between 1 and 3 billion
tons of desert dust fly up into the sky annually. One billion tons would fill
14 million boxcars in a train that would wrap six times around the Earth’s
equator.”
No one has to buy dust, for we all have more than we want. I ignore it
as long as I can in my house. My reasoning is this: If I don’t disturb it, it’s
not as noticeable. But eventually it accumulates to the point that I can no
longer pretend it’s not there. So I haul out my cleaning supplies and start
removing it from wherever it has found a resting place.
As I remove the dust, I see myself reflected in the smooth surface. Then
I see another thing: I see that God took something worthless, dust, and made it
into something priceless—you and me and every other person (Gen. 2:7).
The fact that God used dust to create humans makes me think twice about
labeling someone or something worthless. Perhaps the very thing that I want to
get rid of—a person or problem that annoys me—is the artistic medium God has
given to display His glory.
Being all
fashioned of the self-same dust, let us be merciful as well as just.
—Longfellow (RBC)
