Making Sense of Creation

How do we make any sense out of all the explanations concerning Creation? We think that it's pretty certain; that humankind will never be able to scientifically explain all of the mysteries of creation. So where does that leave us? As Christians we have the Bible, which we believe to be the Word of God as inspired in and written by humans. Holy Scripture has been criticized and attacked from within and from outside the Church since it was available for reading. Our understanding of Creation is the foundation of our spiritual belief system, our theology. Maybe that is why we struggle so in our spiritual journeys. Maybe that is why it is so easy to take the wrong path and act as if God doesn't exist or is just not watching or listening. We are able to convince ourselves that we can hide from God, because we don't have a good understanding of belief in how humans, and all that is around us came to be. The Gospel message in the Bible is missing something without a firm belief in the story of Creation. Genesis and other books of the Bible teach us much about Creation and how we came to be, but we're challenged that we must believe it blindly because it just doesn't match up with our science. It is the natural state of man to doubt, but we must use our doubt in a positive way. We must use it to build better understanding.

Do We Need To Thank Anyone For This Life?

Did evolution begin before there were animals, birds and creatures of the sea? Is humanity the product of a chain of accidents or are we part of a natural and reasonable progression, given the consistency of matter? Is our sense of time a big joke that we are buying into? Was Einstein correct that time is relative? Have we always been living in one continuous present moment that has no past and no future? Is history only for constant reinterpretation of the present moment? Has science adequately and logically explained all of this for us? Just how accurate can science be? Given x-amount of time, is it possible for science to know everything there is to know? What do we do while we're waiting for the truth? What do the next generations do? Or does it even matter? What do the advancements in science and medicine mean in all of this. Is humankind taking control of more and more of the Universe/Creation with each passing year?
Are people better off spiritually today than they were fifty years ago -- 1,000 years ago -- 2,000 years ago?

After pondering on all these questions, are we more likely to think in terms of a Creator God than other choices? Can we depend fully on the Bible? It would seem that there must be something permanent/everlasting. Once we reach a decision that there is a Creator God/Spirit, do we then want to understand our relationship to and with this entity. At creation did God just figuratively "wind the watch", lay it down and walk away, never to return? We'd like to think that there's more of a relationship than that, wouldn't we?

Beginning in the Beginning

We are an inquisitive lot, we humans. Even the religious go outside the Bible to try to understand how it all began. Many professed Christians don't seem to understand and accept all of Holy Scripture ~ at least in their most private moments. We want to know when and how this thing we call the Universe began. Or is the term Universe too limiting and Creation is a better description. We need to confirm that there is a God and that we have a relationship with Him. There must be a way through science and history to confirm what the Bible teaches us about our Creator God.

What was this created matter before it became the substance of formation? Did it come from nothing, and if so, what was present when there was nothing? Was there some kind of spirit before there was anything else like matter? Has everything that we know exists today come from a spirit? How did this spirit come into being? Does the spirit have no beginning and no end? There had to be a starting place, didn't there? Did this spirit have the ability to create something out of nothing? If there wasn't a spirit involved in creation, was creation just an accident? Is creation ongoing? If it was an accident, what was present before the accident? Where did it come from? If there has always been matter out there, does it have no beginning and no end? Is it limitless with no boundaries? HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Bring your answers to class tomorrow!

Overcoming Our Nature

We don't have to look far to see that we humans sometimes have a difficult time getting along together. It's on all levels of living, from the family to the nation state, from culture to culture and religion to religion. Even in our own churches we have a need to improve our relations. There sometimes seems to be as many different opinions, likes and dislikes , as there are numbers of people. From the beginning of human time this has been our problem. We do, however, have many things in common. Not the least of which is that our days are numbered in these skins we wear. Some will live less than a year, while others will live longer up to a bit more than 100 years. But this worldly life is finite. How do we deal with this expectation?

As Christians we have the Hebrew scriptures and the Gospel message of the New Testament to inform and guide us. Through His parables, miracles and other means, Jesus brought us God's Word that reveals our relationship with our Creator and how we are to live our lives in Him. As the beginning of John's Gospel says, "In the beginning was the Word.......and He was in the beginning with God." Moment by moment we must seek the answer to the question, "What is the Kingdom of God and what must we do in this life to understand and participate in a new and greater life in God through Christ and the Spirit of God? (Click Here: Related thoughts by Oswald Chambers)

At home in our bodies?

As St. Paul says in part in 2Corinthians 5:6-17 "We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." That is our challenge as we are at home in our bodies. We must live into God's Kingdom by trying to please the Lord at all times. We must discipline ourselves to bring God into all things as we live our lives. This human challenge has been considered by the 'Best' for centuries. Oswald Chambers calls it "Abandoning to God". He declares that we must put aside our egos and let God do His work. Jean-Pierre de Caussade and others have referred to it as "Present Moment" living. That each moment of our lives is a Sacrament and in living life in such a way we are achieving the best in being at home with the Lord. For us the beginning of this is by the daily nourishing of our spirit through reading and meditating on the Word, connecting with God's Spirit through the sounds and sights of His creation and through study. Then we are better able to live out our lives according to His Will. As we continue to ponder life and death and the hereafter, it is our challenge to see the beauty of our creation and stay in close touch with Him in our daily lives so that we might enjoy His Kingdom now and forever. AMEN.