Dean Powery on How Remembering Death Helps Our Living
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Dean Powery Chronicle column
Title Text:
Dean Powery Chronicle column
In his column in today's Chronicle Chapel Dean Luke Powery writes about how the architecture of Duke Chapel has reminders of death—from its cruciform shape when viewed from above to the tombs of the Duke family members in Memorial Chapel.
"It calls us to remember that we are mortal human beings," he writes. "The word 'human' comes from 'humus' which means 'from the earth' or 'from the ground.' Our common ground as human beings is that we are all 'from the ground.'”
"Humans are dust, holy dust of God, and to dust we will one day return," he says. "Embracing our dustiness, our mortality, our dying, is an important part of the spiritual life."