1 Corinthians 15:42-50

“The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.” vss. 47-50

Paul knew nothing of the work that astrophysicists are doing in their study of the universe, but we can be fairly confident that he would be intrigued by their widely publicized assertion that humans and all living things are made of stardust. That phrase fits very nicely with his belief that all humans were created from the dust of the earth. Certainly it’s a charming way to look at our common origin without denying the work of the Divine Presence who brought all things into existence. We are all stardust! All the elements making up our bodies originated in the stars! And then, to carry it a step further, we can say that in dying we return to the stars. “Dust we are, and to dust we shall return!” We came from God and we will one day return to God! This way of looking at the new life that waits for us beyond death emphasizes our unity with all of humanity and all distinctions fall away. We spend entirely too much time and energy talking about our differences, rather than affirming our basic unity with others, and celebrating the fact that one day we will all be One with Christ, our Maker and Redeemer.

Thought for the Day: What is stardust?