God created…….

In the words of the Nicene Creed, I….

BELIEVE in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

Sorry to disappoint those of you with a more scientific inclination, but that genuinely is enough for me. I believe wholeheartedly in a Creator God, without any interest in the whys and hows and whens. Of course, I am aware of all the theories and controversies surrounding the creation of the world. I hear this little song in my house at least three times a day! –

The glorious poem of Creation in Genesis 1 is enough for me. I love the rhythms and repetitions. I love that “God said ‘Let there be….’ And it was so.” God speaks and all sorts of amazing things start to happen. Words unleash God’s awesome creative energy in the universe. I can imagine this poem being passed on from generation to generation in an oral tradition. The whole of Genesis 1-11 is widely thought to be part of an oral tradition extending over centuries that is deemed to be unhistorical and yet lays down vital universal truths that will be the foundation of faith for many millions of Jews and Christians. Parallels are seen in other ancient traditions and literatures, you know – stories of the creation of the world and the origin of human cultures, the Fall and a great flood……of course there are. Humans were trying to make sense of something way beyond their understanding and put into words that which could not be contained in words. These stories are a glimpse of the divine. Genesis means ‘origin’. This book attempts to answer questions about our origin in the way appropriate to the context in which it was passed down and eventually recorded.

And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1: 4,10,12,18,21,25

Of course He did. Creation is good. We live in a truly wonderful world. Beauty is all around us all of the time. The natural world blows my mind. Watching the sun rise before my eyes this morning, I see God’s handiwork and I marvel at it. I see His face in every sunrise. Check out this song and the beautiful images that accompany it –

Challenge: Open your eyes, smell the roses, stroke a cat, stand still and listen……get in touch with your senses and experience the wonderful world around you today. Take a photo on your phone of something beautiful and upload it to Facebook for us all to see with the hashtag Our Wonderful World. Looking forward to seeing them all!