Return to dust, you mortals!

Yesterday I drove to Dad's gravesite. Walking through that field of standing stones I came to the tiny piece of earth that is now the resting place for his body. Seeing nothing but a bare patch of dirt was jarring, to say the least. I do not recall another moment in my life when the short time we are given to live was so clear to me. There were no tears, no words- nothing but a hand on my mouth with the absolute recognition - it's over! "This is it, Jerry. Your body will someday be consigned to the earth - ashes to ashes, dust to dust. So leave a legacy of love and service that will survive your trip to a grave!"

After a few moments of silence, I could only pray, "Lord, make my remaining years count. Find me faithful!" I think my grief took a turn in that moment as well. "No more yearning for Dad's touch or to hear his voice," I thought. "Remember his work, his love- and carry on." My Scripture meditation followed up on that today.
The 90th Psalm urges us to reflect on our mortality, not with dread, but to move ourselves to action! Take a look.
"Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God. You turn people back to dust, saying,
"Return to dust, you mortals!"
For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.... Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away. Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve. Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom." -- (Psalm 90:1-4, 10-12, NLT)

It is both the gift and folly of the young to live with the illusion that life will stretch on forever! No one in his 20's should feel the weight of the years quite as I do today, for it would crush him, and steal away his ability to create and dream. He would start nothing of significance, feeling only the cynicism of Solomon who lamented, "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless!" (Eccl. 1.2) But one who has lived to mid-life and continues to enjoy the illusion of immortality is a fool of the highest order! He ought to stand in a field of stones often and read those dates to drive home the point that his life is like the dash between the date of arrival and the date of departure.

The thought need not drive us to despair if we know the promise of Eternal Life. The truth of the Resurrection and the acknowledgement of mortality merge to reshape our goals. No longer is feeding the body and tending its appetites so important. Why devote all our energies trying to preserve that which is inescapably destined for a hole in the ground? Our vision grows higher, our pursuits become nobler; our focus on doing those things, spending our resources, giving ourselves to life that really matters! Such is the challenge of the Word.
"In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three-sin, guilt, death-are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort." (1 Corinthians 15:53-58, The Message)
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PS - Thank you for allowing me to share my journey with you. I promise to move on now and stop dragging you into my grief! I have not been able to acknowledge your notes, your cards, your thoughts - they are so many. Please know, I read each one, thanking God for your love and prayers.
Jerry