Creation (Revisited)

Creation (Revisited)


I.
In the dawn of all that is, the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
He spoke into the formless expanse and from it came light and the heavens, the ether mist of the first morning.

On the liquid sphere, he gathered the waters together as a sheaf and made the brooding seas, and from their drawing together grew up the volcano peaks of the earth and the rock. Breaking from the rocks emerged vegetation, as lush as his voice envisioned.

Returning to the black expanse of high heaven he marked the span and cycles of time by placing burning spheres in the cold distance. Two sibling sentinels he formed- one a great light, the other a reflection of her brother’s glory.

After the heavens, his voice bubbled the deep trenches of the sea and they teemed with life, and also the skies. He blessed all these multi-form creatures by calling them good.

Soon after, chewing was heard and the hollow stamping of hooves upon the soil and the trample of wet vegetation. The beasts of the earth, great and small began to roam the earth. Yet still the great expanse of creation without its capstone.

When finally, he spoke again and from the earth came man and woman in His image. He also blessed these two creatures. And his work was then done, the beautiful cacophony of all creation rested in a moment of silent repose as he stepped back to see all the very good that he had made.

The verdant grasses, trees and flowers issued forth their proudest fragrances upon the winds and yearned to become, their fruitful spirits not allowed to burst forth until the man and a woman had been commissioned to cherish them and cultivate them. Their silence was palpable, expectant little children ready to erupt into joyful play.

Then in a hush of silence over the earth, he placed his mouth upon the man’s and breathed the living into him; he inhaled deeply his first draw of breath. Never deeper have any of his children drawn a breath to compare with the majesty and significance of this one. The flowers cheered and the forests clapped their hands in adulation.

II.
Come man, let me show you the garden I have arranged with my own hands for you. Come, come, I have so very much to show you! Look at these wild, extravagant beasts I have made! I am so hopeful of what you shall call each of them!

Come see the fruit trees in bloom and smell the lilies of the great fields! Put your arms deep into the cold rivers and gaze upon the beauty of these stones and the soft glow of the gold. I have made all of these for us to enjoy together as we walk in my garden. You are free in my garden, Adam. You are free forever- you and she for whom you broke out in song for and named after yourself, as I have made you after myself. See, there is nothing between you! Laugh with her; hold her in your chest, son. Is she not beautiful, Adam? Her eyes and womb are so alive.

Look at all that I have made. All is innocent. Everything that I have made is worthy of the life I have given it. All things praise me because of their joy in being and becoming.

III.
So why are you now hiding in fear from my presence when I have come to walk with you in this garden by late afternoon’s amber glow? Son and daughter, I have not made you to fear. What is this that you have done?

IV.
Oh Lord God, what have we lost? Oh Lord God, what we have lost.