The Dusty Ones

He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever..

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

As far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

(Psalm 103: 9, 11-14)

"Dust, Haipru, "the dusty ones," the old Egyptian slang word for the Hebrews- God remembers that we are dust. As Moses taught so clearly, evil is unpreventable and punishment is inevitable. But we have a God who consciously forgets our sins and consciously remembers our frailty. We have a God who travels by our side, who tabernacles among us through the vast and dreadful wilderness. We have a God of grace, who loves even the dusty ones- especially the dusty ones."

Philip Yancy, The Bible Jesus Read, ch. 3- Deuteronomy: A Taste of Bittersweet

The theme of today must be dust- we read the above quote in our Bible study this morning, and then in our history studies, moved into the soujourning stories of the Depression-era Dust Bowl migration.

I'm a dusty one, too.

I'm thankful for the God of grace.

(photo credit: Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936)