🌿Sapling 🙂Agree 🟢Conviction 🔥Doctrine-Poetry-Story
The Big Idea
The connection between dirt and the human person is deeply meaningful and worth investigating.
Note
Remember That You are Dirt… and Breath
The Bible is a sea of rich imagery. A single word can connect to other places all over the pages of Scripture. This is especially true for numbers and images that occur frequently throughout story after story. These connections help to build our understanding and imagination of not just the Bible, but also the world around us.
One particularly powerful image is also a humble element: dirt. Dirt is literally everywhere. Even under and around the concrete jungle you can still find dirt somewhere. Yet this seemingly common element is filled with special meaning in the stories of Scripture. Today we may look at dirt as messy or repulsive. Or we may be thankful for how it grows plants and vegetables. Or perhaps we give no thought to dirt at all. Dirt is a part of the earth that is just - there. Dirt’s givenness makes it easy to overlook (until it walks into the house on the feet of children and dogs).
But in the pages of Scripture, dirt is a core part of the world and humanity. In the story of Creation, God forms humans from the dirt of the earth and breathes His life into them. The very first definition of what makes a human - a human - is dirt mixed with the breath of life. From that moment forward dirt (or dust/ashes/clay) becomes a basic part of being human. The great tragedy of death is that it breaks us back down into dirt and breath, reversing God’s good creative process.
Through the twofold interaction of humanity’s creation and fall, we see two very basic and powerful associations beginning to be formed around the image of dirt. On one hand, dirt is the stuff of beginnings, out of which life can be grown or formed in all of its beauty and wonder. Yet dirt is also the substance of decay, the unraveling of God’s creatures back to their uncreated state.
Both of these themes continue to be developed throughout the Old Testament. Those who mourned for the dead, or for sin, would often rip their clothes and sprinkle ashes (i.e. dirt) on their heads. A very physical reminder of the reality that sin and death bring about the unraveling of creation. The classic verse we repeat every Ash Wednesday calls us back to think on this theme and the deep consequences of our sin: “for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” - Genesis 3:19
Yet dirt is not all negative, the Hebrew verb Yatzar יצר is used to describe God’s crafting of humanity as well as the work of potters and craftsman. The skill and careful attention needed to form clay and pottery (i.e. work with dirt) is immediately connected with God’s forming humans from the ground. In other words, Humans are clearly pictured as unique creations handcrafted by a master potter. This radical image of human beings made of dirt forces us to think about our basic reliance on God, not only for salvation, but for our very existence. In the New Testament, Paul points out this important reality when he compares our bodies containing faith in Jesus to jars of clay: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” - 2 Corinthians 4:7
The interweaving of images and metaphors involving dirt extend far beyond these few examples. I hope that these connections can help open your eyes to the richness of Scripture. Every single image, in every single story, is equally interwoven within the grand narrative of God’s salvation. This overwhelming complexity of beauty is an ever calling invitation. Each of us are called as God’s people to search, learn, memorize, remember, and talk about God’s everlasting word. A lifetime is not nearly enough to exhaust the depths of Scripture.
Other Dirt connections
Gardener parables
Dirt with creative word equals human
Psalm 30 can my dust praise you?
Psalm 33 God spoke creation into being
The theology of Breath and spirit being connected. Breathing as a practice that is connected to the breath of life that comes from God. Breathing being a way to not connect with the universe or self but the Holy Spirit who gave you that breath and who continues to sustain that breath of life within you