Formless potential?

Fiona Reynolds June 07, 2020 0 1

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Genesis 1: 1-2 (NRSV)

1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 

 

“When beginning, God creates the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void. Darkness was upon the face of the abyss. The breath of God? She was brooding upon the face of the waters.” (Author’s own translation of Genesis 1: 1-2)

There are some scary images in these opening words of our Bible. Formless. Void.  Darkness. Abyss. Not somewhere we would like to go or, upon visiting, stay very long.  No shapes. No content. No light. No hope. That is the beginning. And yet, there is more.  For the heavens and the earth are not alone. God is present, and God’s breath broods over life-giving waters, coaxing them into abundance.

PRAYER:

Creating and re-creating God,
where we see only nothingness,
a desolate empty space
devoid of any spark of hope,
Give us your eyes to see latent potential,
your imagination to dream beyond horizons,
your spirit to move our bodies and minds,
your words to speak encouragement to life,
your love to keep on keeping on,
your wisdom to rest when things get tough;
Breath of God,
stir us, shape us, mould us,
form us in God’s image
and then love us enough to let us go
that we, too, might be bringers of new life,
through the very Word of Life, AMEN.