Dust

By The Rt Rev’d Jennifer A. Reddall, sixth bishop of Arizona

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

All over our diocese today, we are saying and hearing those words. Remember. You are dust. You shall return to dust. 

There is also a lot of dust blowing in the strong winds. Dust getting everywhere—blowing into homes, and cars, and ears, and eyes. Dust is inescapable. It invades. It is stirred up by wind, by ruach. 

May these next 40 days be a time of prayer and introspection on our nature as dust. My dust is no different from the dust of my neighbor—and indeed, someday, we may be co-mingled. And our dust—like the earthly dust of today—can be stirred up by the Spirit and blown to unexpected places. 

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.