Photo by Thom Schneider on Unsplash

"In the beginning…"

Genesis 1 takes us back to the inconceivable to create an encounter with the incomprehensible by imagining the unimaginable in a universe of formless, chaotic, darkness.

God created heavens, earth, everything and out of the vast everything came all the individual somethings that continue to mystify the heart and capture the curiosity of the mind.

For certain, the cosmos is neither formless, void, nor dark (thought dark matter may exist in greater proportion than what we can see and know). There is a logos/logic to what is and the message of sacred scripture is that behind it all and in the midst of it all, God is.

To the man or woman on the street: Complete the sentence, "God is …"

To many, the answer is "God is not."

So the first place to begin is the beginning, presupposing nothing in the belief system of another, assuming no establishment of faith, and asking for no nods.

We start at the beginning and build.

I believe that God is, that God acts, speaks, and relates. I further believe that the answer to the question, "Who cares?" is "I do and you might consider caring as well."

I care because if God truly is, then my significance is wrapped up in that reality around which I cannot wrap my own mind.

If God is, than my neighbor is significant. So is this world. So are our current affairs as part of a much larger whole of history.

If God is, everything is significant and nothing escapes divine notice.

If God acts, then it is within time which I can notice and outside of time which is beyond my capacity to fully grasp. It is then only as God speaks that I can see some correlation between time and eternity and begin to visualize some form, order, and light.

If God speaks, I want to somehow hear and know.

The biblical witness is that God speaks and relates. It is that I and my fellow participants in the drama of humanity are like a reflective pond of God's image into which God can gaze and see reflections of His character, creativity, and love. This God walks in my garden and asks me questions. This God wants me to trust Him and know Him and that is a lifetime journey.

That is why I care, but I cannot assume that everyone I meet cares. So, I must raise the question and bear witness in respectful dialog. I must go to the edge with people and look over. And having been to the edge, I must return and take others along to see the view.

It is at the edge we encounter the larger view and are transformed.