It's still early in the growing season. The earth seems like it has been awake just long enough to have had its morning coffee, and now it is exploding into action. I go out with my camera and actually feel a little overwhelmed. In a good way, but nevertheless, I can barely decide where to point my lens next, when to press the shutter, and where to just stop and breathe it all in.
Inhale. Exhale. Look closer.
When I do pause, I often think of God, and how he must have delighted in setting it all in motion. Sometimes I'll look at a flower and laugh at how he must have been feeling fancy, or maybe whimsical, the moment he imagined that one into being. Then I'll start pondering what it is that God actually did, and does, with regard to his creation.
The biblical account in the first two chapters of Genesis paints a breathtaking picture of God laying the foundations for life on the earth. On days 1-3 he makes dwelling spaces for the creatures of days 4-6. He anticipates their every need, and fashions the land to meet them perfectly. He speaks to them, blesses them, and specifically invites the humans into partnership with him and each other as cultivators of life in the garden.
The picture we see is one where humans live in harmony with the Creator, creation, and community. Abundant life and participation for all.
Today we have a lot of scientific language to describe these processes in detail, but it can be easy to mistake describing for explaining.
We know that horticulturists can take material from multiple plants and create new hybrids, for example, which is especially great when they take beautiful trees from other places and come up with a variety hardy enough to withstand a Minnesota winter. (I'm looking at you, redbud and azalea!)
And then they work to nurture and care for them. Pollinators also help with this, and natural adaptations also occur--if you ask me, that's the biological reality that the literary account in Genesis is pointing to. God is the source of all the materials of this life, with all the potential for variety, and he lets us get involved.
From where I stand, it's a combination of faith, science, and mystery, that all adds up to delight.
In this season, I'm grateful for the Eden-dwellers...
The ones who propagate, cultivate, transplant, weed, water and feed.
The children (of all ages and species) whose awe inspires laughter and reverence.
Just imagine the Creator enjoying each one's creativity and delight--and sending all of that energy out as an echo of his glory.
How sweet to enter into his Divine Delight.
No comments:
Post a Comment