The Dust of the Earth

1921

The Dust of Earth
By Dr. W. E. Barton

I stood beside the enormous telescope at Lake Geneva, and asked Professor Frost, who pokes that long inquisitive broomstick in among the stars, what was the most interesting fact which he had learned out of his years of visiting among the heavenly bodies. He answered:

"We are made of the best stuff in the universe."

He showed me how it is possible to isolate the light of a single star, and bypassing that light through a prism, to ascertain what chemical elements are in a state of combustion in that star. That seemed to me almost too wonderful to be believed, but he convinced me that he told the truth. The stars have not all of them precisely the same chemical combinations. But, he said, very nearly all that is in any of them is in our sun, and hence in our earth; and he added, "Most of these elements are in our own bodies."

"We are made of the best stuff in the universe."

James Oppenheim represents the Earth as saying to man:

"O, Man! If you could but know what a glory you are!
Into your life went the fire of the Sun, my Star;
Into you went the millions of ages of me;
Into you went the millions of ages to be!"

We have much to remind us that we are made of the dust of the earth. That origin appears humble enough; but dust is stardust!

It is something to know that even our bodies are of celestial origin. But it is even better to know that in the aspirations of the human spirit burns the passion of God, the eternal hope and longing and prophecy of all the good that shall be on earth, and all that shall make us care to go to heaven.

—Olean Evening Times, Olean, New York, Jan. 28, 1921, p. 12.

Comment: There was an article in the paper just today about Star Trek's James Doohan, Scotty's ashes being shot into space. They probably should've just kept them here, since it's all the same. Here, there. There, here.