There’s an interesting biblical account of Jesus urging his disciples to go from place to place to spread the word, taking nothing with them except a staff: no money, no food, no bags, no change of clothes. He instructs them to leave those places where they are not welcomed: ”as you walk away shake off the dust from under your feet….”( Mark 6:7:13).

So that has left me thinking about the stuff I have and about the gathering of dust and shaking it off. About a propensity for accumulating , whether it be food ( fridge is always overfull) clothes( another op shop visit ) books (another shelf full) .

So : how many dust idioms can you remember ? or dust quotations?

Can’t see them for dust

Gathering dust

Dust it off

Let the dust settle

And of course theres the beautiful reminder of our mortality : “ for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return “( Genesis3:19.KJV)

Which reminds me of my father’s party song:

“ Ash to ash and dust to dust

If coke don’t get you morphine must

Honey have a sniff……..”

( we kids loved all the sniffing. Dad learnt it in Boy Scouts)

I am heading somewhere with these dust metaphors.I dust off my mind to fasten onto the interpretation that suits me right now : dust is extraneous to one’s needs, left over , covering up, clinging on.To shake the dust off one’s feet requires speed and ingenuity.

In youth it was often difficult to see me for dust. Now there’s a tendency towards gathering dust. Stand still for too long and one becomes , not exactly a dustbin , but certainly smothered in particles and , as Germaine Greer pointed out, disappeared. Still… .. The problem is not only speed but also physical being and direction . One needs to, literally, see clearly and place each foot down safely. As well as knowing where to go. The disciples had a mission and a belief. They were certainly young enough to find their way and trust in providence.

Holding on to stuff provides a shelter of sorts.As do familiar places and people.But the gathered piles also make one heavier. Moving becomes tricky. Like sinking into an interminable dustbowl. In a nightmare where one moves one’s feet but move one’s feet but goes nowhere. Stuck.

Shaking the dust off one’s feet is not easy.