“Big deal, I’m used to dust.”
Erma Bombeck suggested these words would be her epitaph. In her comedic genius, she spoke about life describing what we must all discover—each must stare death in the face and say, “Big deal!”
Of dust, man was formed. And this begs a question. After each act of creation, God saw that it was good. After man, He looked at all he created and said, “Very good.” Why the emphasis after creating man? I think there is more than satisfaction involved.
I believe I can speak to the “very.” Since I have stood on the precipice of eternity, one heartbeat from certain death, the question of “very” in its many forms has bandied about in my thought since that day. Though I have often thought “why” is a question of non-faith, the question also challenges me to be still and listen for what God wishes me to know. In my seeking of Him, He also seeks me, and revelations are those times we sit together in speaking silence.
There is a truth about dust. Of it, we were formed, and to it, we shall return. And as we think about the returning, the panic of dust, the tension between purpose and death, settles deep within us. There are two ways we live this realization. We can ask, “Is this all there is,” and go about life in a pattern of avoidance which manifests in all those hedonistic desires meant to fulfill an “I want it now” mentality, the proverbial eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow I will die attitude. This is the stuff of country songs and novels.
Or we can stare at our angst squarely and deeply experience the panic for what it is—a call to faith in God. This is a truth every birth must discover, a realization this tension between purpose and death is a way for us to affirm scripture’s words— “God saw everything that He had made and indeed it was very good.” And only after man did the word “very” appear.
When we move forward in this call, through Christ’s resurrection each can negate his/her past failures and sins, and by paradox, negate the desperation of knowing death comes to all. We do this by first forgiving self, then others and moving forward with the purpose to love others and God. We move forward not in avoidance but engagement with the renewal given to us by God’s promise of “very good.”
Too often we read scripture for what is true, and I use the word to mean fact. Of course, there are many facts in the Bible and each is true. But reading this way fails the purpose of God’s word, that it is there to give us life, and in the living it, meaning. The word “very” has a deeper meaning than satisfaction.
We cannot forsake truth for what is true. For in the forsaking, we lose meaning. When meaning is lost, living is lost, the call to love neighbor and God.
Big deal?
Yes, it is.