Between yesterday and today, our first reading covered the story of Creation from Genesis 1. It is a familiar story, a story told in children’s book, a story we have heard countless times over the years. It is a story that I think we are so familiar with that we no longer bring that same wonder and imagination when we first heard the account as children. And yet it is perhaps the fundamental account of the Power of God’s word – working toward good – working toward very good. Which is not a bad description of what we hope God’s word is creating in us: a movement from good to very good.
Think about how an ancient person would tell this story. “In the beginning…” It is not a story that enters into the debate of the big bang theory, or how old is the universe, or any of the modern debates of science and fundamentalist religious views. It is an account that dismisses those concerns in the opening phrase, “In the beginning.” Hebrew has all kinds of words that are specific about time, but what is used herein is the equivalent of the expression, “way back when.”
Think of it as a telling of a grandparent, sitting outside with a very young grandchild. The child has just asked questions about how “here” came to be “here” and how is it that we are “here.” The “here” is the ground they sit on and the sky under which they sit. The “here” is home.
Take a moment today and read the creation story of Genesis. Be the child, set aside all your images of big bangs, star charts, and evolution. Listen to your grandparent explain how God created a “here” to be your home.
Because way back when God was intent on creating a home for you. A “here” for you to be and to always understand God’s care and providence for us with that original wonder and imagination.