The Sense of Creation

The Sense of Creation

Note: This is the first essay in the series of discussing the ways the Church and other non-profit organizations can and should enhance entrepreneurship and economic development locally.

1. ___/___

Are the individuals, families and organizations able to function with God’s creative activity recognizable in their words, actions and relationships? When someone looks at the life of the community, is it obvious that folks are thankful that God has set them down in this place and time as a gift?

Scripture to think about: Psalm 8: What are the people of your community and congregation that God is mindful of them?

As you read the 8th Psalm, hear the words and their flow as coming from your Creator. You are created as a human being because God wants to have you to love.

What is there in this passage that speaks to your inner self? Read several translations of this passage in order to gain a deeper understanding of the sense of the passage. You might make a list of a half dozen issues of your deepest consciousness. Then consider how this passage speaks to each of these issues.

How are these words passed to you in any way through history? To say it another way, why do you have these words about the thinking of God? You might trace the path of this transmission from the Creation to today. Or just trace them from the ancient Hebrews living in what is now Iraq to yourself. What is there about living where and when you are that is touched by this passage? Use all the space and time you need to trace these feelings of God from then until now.

What impact do these emotions of God have on your sense of who you are? Remember, everyone’s feelings are as important as anyone else’s feelings. While your actions are not as powerful as God’s actions at times, your feelings are just as important. God did not say that Adam and Eve should not feel as they did. Rather, they were just not to take some specific actions.

If your community has a good sense of creation, reality itself is seen in the community as a personal gift from God for the benefit of humankind. It is therefore to be treated with as much respect, gratitude, concern and understanding as can be mustered. God creates the world and humankind, then comes to us bearing the additional gifts of the Spirit and the Christ. Matters of ecology and resources are of intense concern for the whole community as response to Creation itself.

Within the Hopi Nation of Arizona exists a powerful sense of the Creator. Rituals of dance and song and meditation typically focus our senses on living within the dream of the Creator for the world. From the high mesas of the reservation the Hopi can and do survey from now until tomorrow the world around them. In surveying this world spiritually the people accept for themselves both some of the responsibility, some of the possibilities and some of the necessity of careful action within the Creator’s dream for the world.

The Bible tells of the Hebrews struggling with the understanding of themselves in Creation. They knew their call was not to destroy the earth, to use it up. Rather, God wanted them to share the further creative activity with God’s own self. They knew the importance of mimicking God’s intent and action in the Creation. Adam and Eve were ejected from the Garden of Eden then they chose to operate apart from God’s intentions. Walking hand in hand with God is a requirement.

The Bible speaks often of humankind’s role in Creation. We are both Created and co-Creator. We are to name the animals, to civilize the universe and to spread peace and justice everywhere. Our attempts to do this are marks of faithfulness. Our unwillingness to do this work in concert with our loving God is a matter for forgiveness and redemption.

Does our community understand itself as sharing God’s creative work? Does the Church lead the community in learning the possibilities of the creative process? Is the Church able to communicate that responsible entrepreneurship is a legitimate part of sacred creation labor?

Examples of Action that May Help the Sense of Creation

A. Following a lectionary of some sort will nearly always find us using at least one of the Biblical creation stories in worship during the year. Often this celebration comes at the first of the calendar year, but not necessarily.

At some day through the year the congregation will vividly recall the Creation in whatever way it chooses. Usually this will coincide with lectionary processes. There are several creation stories in the scriptures that can be studied and compared. Some of these can readily be presented in poetry, music, technical drama, art, etc. The style is open to creativity.

B. Around 600 B.C. - 480 B.C. the Hebrews were in captivity in Babylon. They were slaves, doing the will of the Babylonians. The real struggle, though, was remembering their own creation story and rejecting the Babylonian creation stories. In the Church, we occasionally serve well if we spend a little time retelling both stories. Then we can understand our own a little better. God texts for this material exist in many local and regional libraries. A well recognized form of the old Babylonian / Akkadian story is the “Enuma Elish”. This title arises from the first words of the text which are best translated: “When on high....” My translation of this work will be included in a later post.

C. There are many possibilities for ecological emphasis during the year. We can study, celebrate, pray, sing or simply read from the vast supply of ecology material which exists today. We can find special speakers or pull together groups for many different emphasis. Simple things such as cleaning up some portion of the environment or celebrating birds singing can add to the understanding and sense of Creation.

D. Almost every community has an annual celebration of some sort. The church has the option of taking a leadership role in these. The Church can move the festivities into a celebration of the gift of life and creation itself. It can do this without becoming obnoxiously evangelistic.

E. Freedom of religious expression and theology is primarily defined as the right to live within one’s own understanding of the Creator’s dream. Using such passages as Psalm, it is easy to present a great variety of self understanding.

What are your own brainstorm and creative thoughts?

1. What evidence have you found to support the rating you have given your own community?

2. What evidence have you found to support the rating you have given your community?

3. What programs might work in your church and community?

4. What will be your work in this process?

5. How will you reveal these thoughts to your church and community?