Living in the Spirit

May 29, 2023

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:4a

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. –Genesis 1:1-5

People of modernity and even earlier have had trouble accepting the description of creation in Genesis. They are usually looking for science, not guidance for living. On the other hand, some read it as science and may miss the guidance for living. I picture creation being something like an artist walking up to a block of marble, envisioning the statue of David, and chipping it into reality.  That is the short story. More than one attempt was made to create a likeness of David out of the block of marble, and parts of the block were damaged in that process. Michelangelo, the artist who finally completed the statue, had to work around the flaws in the marble block.

God turned chaos into order, recognizing the need for diversity of wind and water, light and dark with differing purposes, all essential. The Lord created humans to oversee God’s beloved creation and recognized for that to happen, God trusted us humans enough to make us in God’s image and gave us the responsibility and free will to care for the earth and all that is within it. We occasionally get it wrong, like the artist first assigned to create the statue of David, but with God’s patient help, we can get it right even in our imperfections.

Prayer: Guide us, O Lord, as we care for your creation. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.