Scripture: Genesis 1:1-31
Journal: How has God spoken something new into your life or heart lately? How has he turned your chaos into creation? How are you giving God space to speak his creation into your life today?
Reflection: The pre-Genesis condition of the cosmos is our own inner life: tohu and bohu, without form and void. Things are not right; we are not right. Our emotions bolt and stampede. Our thoughts run riot. Our bodies hurt. Our appetites play havoc with our virtue. We can't, it seems, direct our own destiny with dignity or wisdom for ten consecutive minutes.
And so we pray. Directed by the Psalms, we begin our praying by listening. What do we hear?
And God said, Let there be light. . . .
And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament. . . .
And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
And God said, Let the waters . . . be gathered together. . . .
And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament. . . .
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
And God said, Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures. . . .
And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
And God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures. . . .
And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Disorder gives way, piecemeal, to order. Chaos becomes cosmos. The language is rhythmic--cadence and repetition and rhyme. God speaks creation into existence: "He spoke and it came to be; he commanded and it stood forth" (Ps. 33:9). The rhythmic language makes a rhythmic creation. (Answering God by Eugene Peterson)
Prayer
Closing Prayer: Lord, teach us to listen, for unless you speak, we will never be all you desire us to be. Amen.
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