A number of months have passed since I kicked off the Spiritually Sensitive Sinners Series. This next installment is a poem. It did not begin inspired by Luke 7:36-50, but eventually made its way there. I am attracted to the theme of dust. We were made with it. The serpent was cursed to eat it. And in this Gospel passage a spiritually sensitive sinner cleansed Jesus’s feet from it.
Dust
Arms firmly held to breasts
Fingers touching chin
Head bowed, head cocked
Eyes tightly locked
Carved by a scythe
Hunched like a wound
Unmoved, despair
Under cloak of blackened hair
Quiet in a shell
Unvoiced troubled words
A whisper of a breath
Dread of life and of death
Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.
Rusted then crushed
Upon a human life of tin
Iron-weight of holiness on sin
How blessed when
Bent limbs unbend
Hands reach down
Knees touch dirt to crawl
To earth all hearts must fall
To earth’s dust returns our fouled and fearful years
From that very dust we cleanse His feet with our tears
Dave is an author, educator, and advocate of living simply. Dave has spoken nationally and internationally about simplicity. He has appeared in Time Magazine, Mother Jones Magazine, the London Times, and The Guardian, and has been a guest of the 700 Club. His book The 100 Thing Challenge (HarperCollins, 2010) tells the story of his simple-living journey and the worldwide movement it contributed to. Dave holds an M.A. from Wheaton College and a B.A. from Moody Bible Institute. He works at Point Loma Nazarene University and lives in San Diego with his wife and three daughters.
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