Genesis 1
“In the beginning, God…”

Read the first chapter of Genesis. In this creation story, did you notice how it repeated the words, “God saw that it was good,” over and over again. Then when God created humans, Genesis says, “God saw that it was VERY good.”

While living in Wenatchee, Washington, one morning I looked out my kitchen window. I could see a piece of the Columbia River which flows from way up north from Canada, down to the Pacific Ocean 1240 miles away. Mission Ridge foothills rise up from the river floor and display deep shadows that outline their indentations and jutted rocks. Sheep graze in the pasture below. But there is more. Cherry orchards dot the landscape ripe with fruit; and mother Robin is sitting on eggs in a nearby tree! To the west lie the Cascade Mountains. It IS GOOD—really good! They are all gifts from our Creator God.

How did all this come about? Genesis is a beautiful poetic description, for sure. If you read Psalm 8, the writer is totally awed, but neither the writer of Genesis nor the Psalmist answer the question, “HOW did God do it?”

We may leave the details of the “How” to the astronomer or the scientist to understand. They will tell you we live in a huge universe on planet earth which weighs ˜6 billion trillion tons and moves around sun 66,000 mph while rotating at the equator at little over 1000 mph.”

Then I pick up a tiny grain of sand that contains 22 quintillion atoms. I can’t even fathom that!

How magnificent it all is! Open your eyes & see! Then praise God, the author of it all! Use the words of the Psalmist.

    When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
    what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

Prayer: It is good! God, you, and all you create is good! It reminds me that if you can do such great things in creation, you will certainly care for me. Thank you. Amen.

Song: “God the Sculptor of the Mountains” by John Thornburg, b. 1954 (ELW 736)