TO THE DUST WE WILL GO b Robert Soto

TO THE DUST WE WILL GO by Robert Soto

February 23, 2010

Ecclesiastes 3:20 "All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return."

Today came the closing chapter of my friend's death. She was cremated and stated in her will that she wants her ashes spread in a secluded place. We chose the desert because my friend loved the heat. She lived for a hot day to go and work or just relax in the warmth of the sun. We arrived and had to slowly make our way through the wild cactus and thorn-infested brushland of Texas. With every step I checked for rattlesnakes which are now slowly coming out of their winter hibernation. After going a short distance into the brush desert, we found the place. My son and daughter sang a traveling song followed by a farewell song as my friend's sisters spread their sister's ashes into the wind which eventually fell to the ground. It was a time full of emotion as I felt we were closing the final chapter of my friend's life.

But as the ashes spread through the air I could not help but think to myself, "Is this all there is to life?" If the essence of who we are can be reduced to dust that will fit in a small bag that goes into a small container, then what is life all about? Science says that the human body is made up of 65-75% water. So when the body dies and we return to the dust of the ground, there is not much left of us to admire. Solomon said, "All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return." We all start on an equal plane and we all end on the same plane. We all came from the dust of the earth and to the dust we will return. So the question we must answer is, "What is life?" Life is what you do from the beginning to the end. Life is not what we were before birth and what our bodies will become afterwards; life is what we do in between. Life is what people will remember of us and the things we accomplished, not in our own lives but in the lives of others who God the Creator has brought our way. I will always remember my friend - not for what she was, but for what she did for others and how she touched others' lives with her life.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church