DUST TO DUST

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

Years ago my family and I returned from a short vacation. We amazed ourselves with the beauty of Yosemite, burned our brakes up going down the Tioga Pass and drank Sassafras Tea in Virginia City. While making this interesting loop we went off the beaten path and explored the ghost town of Bodie, California.

     

Gold was discovered on the site of Bodie in 1859 and a mad rush was made to extract as much gold as possible from the surrounding hills. Bodie grew fast and furious in population, reaching a peak of over 10,000 people. It boasted of having 65 Saloons; but only a single church. Bodie was known for the wild and wicked men who lived and worked there. One family who left their home to discover riches in Bodie had a little girl. She wrote in her diary the day she left with her mom and dad for Bodie, “Good bye God, I’m going to Bodie.”  Reverend F.M. Warrington saw it in 1881 as “a sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion.”

 

A lot of gold was taken out of the mines surrounding the town of Bodie, but eventually the amount of golden treasure dwindled. Two separate fires burned many of the buildings down and finally people gave up on living in Bodie. The last resident left in the 1960s and now it is a historic California State Park.       

 

It’s amazing to walk the streets of Bodie today. Even though there are only 5% of the buildings left, these are enough to give you the feel of a real gold rush town. What’s amazing is the condition of the buildings and items contained in them. It’s as if people left in the middle of their daily activities. The general store has items on the shelves as well as displays and calendars on the walls. One saloon has gambling tables complete with cards and poker chips as well as a roulette wheel. The schoolhouse is full of student desks, textbooks and homework assignments written on old chalkboards. Houses have chairs, beds and personal belongings in them. The mortician’s house has caskets of all sizes that can be viewed from its window.

 

One thing I noticed as we explored this abandoned town was the DUST. Thick layers of dust covered everything. No matter which window you looked in, copious layers of dust blanketed all you could see. Whether it was pieces of furniture, plates, spoons, glasses, wooden toys or newspapers, every item wore a musty clothing of dust. Wallpaper hung in torn remnants from walls. Boards hung down in precarious directions from the ceilings and many floors had rotten black holes in them. This was definitely a dead and abandoned town.

 

I couldn’t help but think of the contrast between what the town must have been in its heyday, and its current skeletal state. People lived, worked, married, and yes, even worshipped in this town, and now there was no one.

 

How transient life is I thought. Scripture addresses this when in James 1:9 11 it says, “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.” I couldn’t help thinking of how in its glorious days; Bodie was a bright blossom of what the world could offer. It bustled with people and wagons, full of gold and the dreams of those who would be rich. Bodie must have seemed like a growing metropolis to its inhabitants, a town with a future of prosperity. But, the blossom faded and died when the glory of man burned up – literally by fire, and the fading of the gold dust.

 

How often do we fail to have a good perspective on our own lives in relationship to eternity? We run around making plans, organizing our lives, and assuming that we have nothing to worry about or be held accountable to. How often we take for granted the blessing God bestows on us. How often do we fail to thank Him for another day or ask Him for advice regarding our plans? How frequent we fail to include Him in our goals and dreams. Numerous are the times we trade the valuable spiritual opportunities in life of ministry for the worthless temporal pursuits we strive after.

 

James 4:13 15 continues on this subject when it says, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit;’ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” We fail to recognize as we rush around with the meager concerns of our lives that there is an all powerful, all knowing, and ever present God who wants us to have a relationship with us. He wants us to talk with Him and walk with Him. He wants to bless us with His presence and wisdom.

 

Bodie has a special attraction to me. Probably because it reminds me of who I am, a creation of God who must depend on Him daily for strength and guidance. Bodie reminds me that the things of this world will not last. The prosperity of today can be replaced by the abandoned dust of tomorrow.

 

Christians must have a perspective based on reality. While we live in the present, we must look forward to the future, the heavenly home that God has prepared for us. Eternal life in Christ, for each of us, begins when we accept Christ. The life we live on earth is the proving ground of our faith, the faith that there is more than the short lived plans and pursuits of our busy lives.

 

Is your life a Bodie? Are you allowing your life to revolve around worldly goals? What controls your life? Does the bright and shiny gold dust of this world rule your life? Is your life a dynamic and intimate relationship with your Heavenly Father or is your heart coated with the dust of indifference and apathy? Are you building your kingdom or God’s Kingdom? These are tough questions, but these are tough and important times. The time is short and opportunities to glorify God and serve others may be passing you by.

 

Matthew 6:19 21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”