Playing in the Dust

"I took this incarnation 

to experience your universal drama,

Yet like a small child, 

I only played with dust."

This short stanza is from a poem by Lex Hixon called "The play of my soul is over" (found in the book Mother of the Universe).  Now, I don't exactly ascribe to the whole worship-the-goddess-Kali, Hindu-reincarnation, wear-a-garland-of-severed-heads-around-your-neck lifestyle that the poems endorse, but I do like the message that these particular verses are throwing out there.  

It's kind of spinning the traditional carpe diem mantra.  To me, it's saying, take the opportunity in front of you.  Take advantage of what you are being faced with right now.  Don't just sit and let life pass you by.  It reminds me of that little kid on Christmas Day, who wakes up to find that Santa brought him this awesome, new, and exciting (fill-in-the-blank), but instead of being totally enthralled by the new toy all day, he ends up just playing with the empty box that the toy came in for ages.  (I realize that this analogy could also be used to say "Find Joy in the Little Things!" or "Look Past Appearances!" but bear with me here.)  The kid is sitting with this empty box in front of him, and it consumes all of his focus, so much so that he misses out on all of the excitement that waits for him with the true prize.  How much am I missing out on by only focusing on empty boxes?  In this case, the author of this poem took on Incarnation- to experience Universal Drama!  This sounds (albeit slightly ridiculous) like it has so much potential!  And yet he sits playing in the dust, missing out on so much.

As much as I would like to say that I read this book on my own to expand my cultural horizons and understand a novel way of thinking, I actually read it because it was assigned in my World Lit class.  Today when we were discussing it, my professor summed up one of the major points of the book as this:

 Death only matters if you are living a less-than life. 

It was a striking thought.  It resonates especially with me because I realized that my God is great enough to reach me even through the teachings of another religion.  This thought about less-than life is exactly what God is saying to me about my life... death is not important because my life is not less-than when I have redemption and a higher purpose to live for (his glory).  I have something new to focus on.

SO here we go, time to start.  Don't settle for less than this fantastic new life- Put down the empty box.  Brush off the dust.