The Breath of Life
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What does dirt have to do with deity? Quite a bit actually.
Here’s our verse for the day:
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7)
It doesn’t get any more earthy than ‘the dust of the ground’. The narrative is asking us to imagine the LORD God with dirt under His fingernails, so to speak.
There’s no “Let there be a man” here. Instead it’s hands-on. So obviously this isn’t the Father we’re speaking of, this is definitely the Eternal Son (see John 1:18). This is Christ before He became dust. Here he sketches out the humanity He would later assume. Christ is the potter, Adam is the clay.
But it’s not even as dignified as ‘clay’, or even ‘mud’. Instead it’s ‘dust.’ So fragmentary. And so quickly blown away. But, easy come easy go. Plenty more where that came from.
He’s dust. More than that, he’s dust of the ground. Adam is very connected to the earth. He’s made of earth. He’s not flown in by the angels to trouble-shoot in this new-frontier start-up called earth. The man who will have dominion won’t just stand over the earth, he will be earth. In fact his name means… no, we’ll talk about his name later.
But here is the man of dust springing up from the ground – just like the trees are about to (Gen 2:9). It’s another indication that humanity is a crop.
And then, stunningly, here’s what happens to this very terrestrial, agricultural, ephemeral pile of dirt – Christ the LORD breathes into his nostrils the breath of life.
The earth-creature is blessed by heaven. No other creature is formed like this or breathed into like this. No other creature has either their earthiness or their spirituality highlighted in such a way. In man there is an intersection of creation’s two great realms. Throughout Genesis chapter 1 the stage was being set. The heavens and the earth were prepared. And now at centre-stage stands man – moulded from the earth, kissed by heaven.
Here is man face-to-face with the Hands-On God, freely receiving life from his Lord. This is man in intimate fellowship with God and, at the same time, at the pinnacle of creation. He sums up the earth and the whole crop of humanity in himself.
Here at the intersection of heaven and earth lies the whole operating system of the universe. Whatever happens to this man in his relationship to God will happen to all reality.
When this man turns from the LORD, everything falls apart.
But, take heart. When Christ takes Adam’s flesh and turns man back to God… well then, the whole world is raised up and set to rights.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)
Son of mud
And other crud
Lift up your eyes
For you shall rise.
Conceived in dirt,
Be bold to flirt
With Light who woos
What once was ooze.
Man of dust,
It’s time to trust
Your Maker’s thumb
And, soft, succumb.
Let Him weep for you today,
For wetted dust is yielding clay.
That’s brilliant Michael. Is it yours?
I wrote it today, on my day off for Orthodox Christmas in Chisinau. It’s a sonnet, if metrically odd.
Michael
Wonderful! May I put it on my other blog with a proper reference? Feel free to say no
Blessings in the Beloved
By all means. It’s a treat to be published in open channels.
Just had another thought:
Potter to Clay: Thumbs In or Thumbs Down!
Blessings,
Michael
Impulsively, I loved it so much I posted it to Stand Firm without thinking to ask permission…mainly because one of our dearly beloved commentors there is so squeamish about the idea of GOD ‘wooing’ humanity back to Himself.
It is a wonderful poem, in its simplicity, meter, humanity and just plain earthiness. As a fan of Dickinson and Frost, it hit me right square in the heart.
I see Positive Phototaxis posted the sonnet on Stand Firm as a “poem in honor of Carl.” Could Glen or PP or St Nikao please drop a note to Stand Firm to note that the sonnet was not written “in honor of Carl,” but in response to Glen’s meditation on dust? I don’t want to be seen as taking part in a controversy that I had not heard of until a few moments ago.
Thanks,
Michael
I just posted this:
“Michael would like it known that his poem was a response to my post at the King’s English and had nothing to do with any debates with carl – of which he is completely unaware. :)”
[...] Over at King’s English Michael Mates has written a wonderful sonnet in response to this post. [...]
[...] The Breath of Life [...]
[...] garden was planted by the LORD Himself (Genesis 2:8). Again, this is Christ the LORD, (the visible Image of the invisible God). He doesn’t speak a [...]
I was reminded of one of my favorite hymns as I read today’s reflection” Breathe on breath of God; fill me with life anew…” see the artwork and lyrics here
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/o/bombog.htm
I am loving this blog-site – absolutely inspiring! Thank you!
On today’s, I wanted to ask about “No other creature is formed like this or breathed into like this” in the light of Genesis 2:19 “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air”.
I assume ‘the ground’ and ‘dust’ are the same, no? I also assume that, Ecclesiastes 3:21, all breathing creatures have the Spirit (‘spirit’ and ‘breath’ being the same word in the original Hebrew), no?
Is it possible, then, that all breathing creatures are ‘formed out of the dust’ and have God ‘breath into’ their nostrils, but that it’s only mentioned of Man for different reasons – perhaps to emphasise something specific to Man?
Why might this be important?
To me, the ‘earthiness’ of all creatures sets up our understanding about ALL creation being redeemed through the redemption of Man (taking into account individual judgement – Genesis 9:5-6 and Deuteronomy 24:16), because of a physical continuity between Man’s flesh and the rest of Creation. I.e. that all are made of the same ‘dust’ … no?
Hi Nick,
Yes other animals have come from the ground and have the breath of life in them – but on both these counts the connection of man to earth and man to God is more intimate.
All are connected, but man is top of the tree and is *most* connected to God and world.
Michael, I want to apologize to you for any embarrassment I caused you by posting your poem at Stand Firm. I was wrong to do so…as Scripture says, my feet were swift to run to mischief…and my attempt at humor was a indeed a trespass. I apologized both to you and to carl at Standfirm.
No worries, mate, as Fr Glen would have said, at least to age 16. What I write for a living never gets that sort of response, so I was grateful for the eagerness with which you welcomed it.
Now–can anyone figure out why I cannot access this site on my laptop at home, but have no trouble at work?
Michael
Really liked this post, Glen; keep them flowing. This was an excellent idea for a blog!
Thanks Bobby!
Michael–wonderful poem in response to a great article. Thanks for sharing the site with us. Enjoying it greatly. Just a few more days to be caught up.