Two weeks ago I started teaching a year long series “Live Big” by Abingdon Press with the children in the Learning Center behind our church. About 20 three and four year olds are having a ball celebrating this month’s series focus on “in the Beginning God Created.” It’s obvious that the Christian educators presenting the video portion of these first lessons want to bring the young viewers to a point of personal praise and worship like Psalm 104:24 says, “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”
Each child has a different response to our activities. Some are not able to speak or sing clearly or move in the most graceful ways or stay quiet in the appropriate places to participate perfectly in the lessons. However, they all know how to have fun and enjoy participating in God’s creation with their mind, body and spirit. This gives each child comfort and hope.
The story of creation is a psalm of praise. God’s universe has been functioning for eons of time. God made light out of darkness, rhythms of night and day as well as seasons of sowing and reaping out of chaos. Then the children learned a rap song that says, “On the sixth day of creation, God made you and God made me . . .” We humans are the crowning event of life, made after God's own likeness. We are also part of God’s purpose in everything.
Our children learn what we must learn repeatedly in our adult lives: God brings order from disarray, love and forgiveness from the darkness of stubborn self-centeredness. There may be seasons of wonderful exhilarating joy contrasted with excruciating pain, disappointment or grief. But through all of this we can praise God for manifesting wisdom in creation that has purpose and meaning. And this is good.
Annemarie and I are just returning from a week-long city-wide workshop about how residents of Montgomery think the city’s physical infrastructure should be in the near future. It is affirming how we portray the image of God in our best behavior: we declare positive light in the midst of our darkened past. Then we discover the rhythms of how our nights, days and seasons of living together will cycle. Inevitably there is an endless re-creation before us of renovation, recreation, and rebuilding that is part of what the compassion, hope and community of the people of God is about. We are children of our Father in Heaven and we are blessed.
Dear Heavenly Father, help me not to take for granted the miracles of creation. Thank you for the ways you bring hope and purpose to my life. Help me to always appreciate what You have done in and around my life and the lives of others.
Yours in Christ,
brother ron
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