Still Becoming

In our weekly Bible study, we recently reread the stories of creation in the opening chapters of Genesis. I asked the class what surprised them, what they had forgotten was part of the story, and what they had not thought about before. There were many, many interesting insights, but what struck me in my own rereading of these incredibly familiar stories was a new way of approaching the opening story of the six days of creation.

Genesis 1 is the record of God creating all that is from the chaos of a tumultuous sea without form and void. Each day, God brings some new structure into being, confining the chaos—not eliminating it—but giving it a container—first the simple order of light and dark, then advancing through each of the next four days as more and more structures are in place for the culminating work of the sixth day—the day when all the creatures come into being, including us human beings—“male and female, God created them...and they will be in our likeness...”

What struck me as never before was recapturing an ancient practice (pre-16th Century) of reading the Bible as a metaphor for what is happening here and now. 

What if the six days of creation are an analogy for all of history, each day representing an epoch in the evolution of the world as it is? Each day marks the arrival of some momentous piece of our planet as God forms it and shapes it and spins it along its way. 

If so, then our current moment is held within that sixth day—the day God brought us into being. We are still becoming what God fashioned us to be. We are still growing into being the Image of God. We are still growing into God’s vocation that we be the ones managing, caring for, and sustaining creation on God’s behalf—an interpretation of that momentous charge found in Gen. 1:26-28. We are not given willy-nilly power to do with the world whatever we want, but rather we are given the authority to be God’s stewards of all that is—men and women together—caring for all of creation—and each other—in such a way as to preserve and conserve creation for all generations to come.

The fact that the days of creation are still unfolding is not something to be afraid of, but rather a source of infinite hope. Rereading the first chapter of Genesis, it is striking how overwhelmingly positive it is—everything is exactly as it should be and God declares it “very good.” One quick listen to the news of the day, and that claim immediately falls under suspicion—really? This is as good as it gets? Hoo, boy...are we in trouble! But if we read the days of creation as a still unfolding process, we see we have time and space to get it right. We can grow into being the “very good” creatures God made us to be—all of us. 

So, as we move through February, heading toward Lent, remember we are all in the process of growing into what we are to be. Take time to listen, learn, and lift into being what God intends us to be—God’s representatives on and within the earth, creating, forming, and shaping through God the kingdom of God all around us.