"Dust in the Wind" is a song recorded by American progressive rock band Kansas and written by band member Kerry Livgren, first released on their 1977 album Point of Know Return.
The song title was inspired by the Bible reference, paraphrasing Ecclesiastes:
I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: everything he has accomplished is futile — like chasing the wind!
The lyrics are a meditation on mortality and the inevitability of death, the emotional theme bears a striking resemblance to the biblical passages Genesis 3:19 ("...for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return".) and Ecclesiastes 3:20 ("All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return".)
The phrase "dust in the wind" occurs in Psalms 18:42 ("I ground [my enemies] like dust on the face of the wind...")
It is similar to the famous opening lines of the Japanese war epic The Tale of the Heike ("...the mighty fall at last, and they are as dust before the wind.") and from a book of Native American poetry, which includes the line "for all we are is dust in the wind".
Before I expand on the above, I want to give a hearty shout-out for Prager University, known simply as PragerU - https://www.prageru.com/ - and its founder and driving force Dennis Prager, an American (Jewish) conservative radio talk show host and writer.
Visit PragerU, and you will not be disappointed, even if you do not agree with all the presentations, you will come away better informed, entertained, and much to think about.
Back to “Dust in the Wind”.
As regular blog readers know, I have little or no respect for Faith.
Frankly, I lost my Faith a long time ago, that is assuming that I ever really had.
I subscribe to the notion that religion was ‘created by man to enslave man’.
If you don’t believe me, just look at the indoctrination that religious leaders undertake to ensure that their members, congregations, and cohorts adhere to the house spin.
Regardless of whether it is Judaism, Islam, Christianity, or any other religion, the tools used by those in power to control the masses are the same.
Think about this; from a young age, children are indoctrinated with the beliefs and practices of their parents' religion.
The idea that all religions are a tool for oppression is not new. Karl Marx, a secular Jew fervently believed that religion was a means of social control, used by the ruling class to maintain their power and privilege. He argued that religion was the "opium of the people," which provided a false sense of comfort and hope to the oppressed while distracting them from the real problems of poverty, inequality, and exploitation.
And when we come to War, we open a Pandora's Box, releasing the curse of War on Mankind.
It is challenging to provide a precise count of how many wars have been fought solely or primarily due to religious reasons throughout history. The causes of wars are often multifaceted and can include a combination of political, economic, social, and religious factors.
That said, what is clear is that religion has undoubtedly played a significant role in many conflicts.
Well-known historical conflicts where religion played a significant role include the Crusades, the European Wars of Religion, and various religious conflicts in the Middle East, including the current round of hostilities. I concede that in the examples I have given, political and economic interests were closely linked to the religious aspects of the conflicts.
In his 1971 song, John Lennon challenged us to Imagine a world without religion. Can you?
For a minute, stop and think about the notion that we are nothing more than Dust in the Wind of time.
Forget the fairy tales of the Bible, and think outside of the box.
Scientists tell us that the planet we call home is in the region of 4.5 billion years old. I put my hands as I do not know how they arrived at this approximate figure.
According to tradition, the Hebrew calendar started at the time of Creation, 3761 BCE. The current (2023/2024) Hebrew year is 5784.
How can these two facts be reconciled?
Paleontologists in South Africa have found the oldest known burial site in the world, containing remains of a small-brained distant relative of humans previously thought incapable of complex behavior.
The oldest burials previously unearthed, found in the Middle East and Africa, contained the remains of Homo Sapiens and were around 100,000 years old.
The burial site in South Africa is believed to be at least 100,000 years earlier than the previously found burial site.
We are told that the first Home Sapiens migrated out of Africa to the modern-day region of Syria. As a marker of this, Damascus, the capital of Syria, is claimed as the world’s longest-serving permanent settlement stretching back 6,000 years. (Before Hamas or anyone else jumps on the wagon and says this supports the Arab's claim to the region, remember that Islam was founded in the 7th Century.)
If Judaism is indeed close to 6,000 years old – regardless of how we measure a year – Judasim surpasses Islam in the Middle East.
OK, so back to the theme.
Irrespective of our life span, our time on this earth is measured in milliseconds when compared to the history of this planet. Our lives are just ‘dust in the wind’.
And, if that is the case, why do we spend enormous amounts of time and energy in conflict with one another when our time on earth is so very short?
Is this the density of mankind to forever be in conflict?
Recently while surfing the internet, I came across an article about the British actor Charles Hawtrey. The article was subtitled ‘a wasted life’.
Best remembered as a cast member of the extremely successful “Carry On” film franchise, Hawtrey started as a child actor in silent films, he was England's leading boy soprano and worked alongside a positive who's who of the thirties and forties. He had directed films and produced West End shows, starred in three hit TV series, and was a prolific radio actor for the BBC.
Yet he was never content and spent his life desperately searching for stardom and success, which, in his deluded way of thinking, always failed to live up to expectations. He was not the least bit interested in his reputation or leaving a legacy, growing old disgracefully in Deal, the Kent seaside town he lived in for the last twenty years of his life: collapsing in pubs; swearing at autograph-hunting children; and, taking home teenage rent boys (one of whom set fire to Hawtrey's cottage, with Hawtrey still inside it).
He died in 1988. Nine people were at his funeral.
So why did the subtheme ‘a wasted life’ strike a chord with me?
As I tiptoe slowly toward my 75th birthday, I look back at the numerous screw-ups I have made over the years. Truth be told, there are so many, if I were to make a list with the idea of confessing all my fuck-ups, I would not know where to start.
Would it be wonderful as a teenager to have insight into your coming life? Just think about it, you could see across two, three, four, and more decades of your future. See the landmines ahead of you and know how to take action to avoid them. Understand as a teenager the results of future negative actions.
You often hear people saying “If I had my time over, I would do exactly the same”. Is that true? If you could live your life over again, would you follow the same path, knowing what you know now as a grumpy old man or woman? Hell No!!!!!!
And at the end of the day, our lives are merely ‘dust in the wind’ of time.
For the fallen of Israel not to be forgotten, we MUST be their voice and stop this Kakistocracy government from plundering the wealth of the country.