Is Dust Important?

   In the story told today in Matthew 14, Herod Antipas, ruler over the territory of Galilee in the time of Jesus, shows what is important to him when he orders John the Baptist to be killed, just so he would not lose face with his friends. His place of authority and his pride, that would not let him admit that he had made a mistake, lead to the death of an innocent man.

   In the movie that I watched, The Way, the box that contains the ashes of a son who died at the beginning of a pilgrimage in Spain, becomes the focal point of a father's walk of his own. It is the most important thing in his life at that point. His work and life fade into the background, and his goal becomes to walk the trail for his son.

   When he has to rescue his backpack out of the river, the first thing he checks out is the box with the ashes. When a fellow traveler tries to touch it, he grabs it away. When his backpack is stolen he cries out to the buildings around him, "you can keep the pack, just give me back the box".

   I think about what is important to me. Is it a box of dust?

   At the end of the film, the box is placed on the altar in the cathedral, and then emptied into the sea.

   To me, those closing scenes represent surrender. The surrender of what one man felt was important, to a power beyond his control.

   Am I willing to surrender the "important" things in my life to God? Do I want to cling to my life, or offer it on the altar of service, or pour it out for Him?

   Herod kept his pride and saved his face, the father in the movie went from being possessed by a box of ashes to giving it all up. Which way do I take?