Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live. [Genesis 2:7 (GNT)]
You were made from soil, and you will become soil again. [Genesis 3:19 (GNT)]
Today, I thought again about that handful of dirt in the farmer’s hand and remembered the creation story. God scooped up a handful of soil, breathed life into it and made man. I don’t care whether the words are figurative or literal or if they support the creationist or evolutionary points of view. All I know is that God made something out of nothing then and continues to do so now!
He takes our worthless parts and gives them value. He imparts our exhaustion with vitality, our weakness with strength, and our loneliness with love. He makes whole our brokenness, fills our emptiness, and replaces despondency with hope and sorrow with joy. He gives sight to the part that is unseeing, perception to the part that is unhearing, and a voice to the part that is mute. He replaces our shame and disgrace with forgiveness and mercy. He takes our soiled parts, washes them in His blood, and makes them clean. He fills that cold void in our core with hearts of compassion and scoops us out of darkness into the light. He holds us in the palm of His hand, takes all of our deadness and decay, and breathes new life into us.
Thank you God, for taking this handful of soil and filling me with life anew!
Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will, to do and to endure.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly thine,
till all this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, so shall I never die,
but live with thee the perfect life of thine eternity.
[“Breathe on Me, Breath of God” by Edwin Hatch]
According to the Boston Globe, the college class of 2015 graduated with an average of over $35,000 in student debt. That’s a mammoth $56 billion in student debt, giving them the dubious honor of being the most indebted class in history. It’s likely that honor will pass to the class of 2016 come June. While a few occupations may qualify for student loan forgiveness programs, one way or another, that debt must be repaid. Recent college grads aren’t the only ones in debt. According to NerdWallet, the average American household carries nearly $131,000 in debt for such things as student loans, credit cards, mortgages, and both auto and personal loans. Even if we are fortunate enough to have no personal debt, the national debt of over nineteen trillion dollars still weighs heavily on each and every one of us. With a nation that has clearly spent more than it can afford, it’s too bad we no longer follow the laws in Deuteronomy for the Israelites that prohibited charging interest and canceled all debts every seven years.
Jehovah Rapha, the “Lord who Heals You,” was the name of God proclaimed to the Israelites through Moses at Marah. Indeed, a God who could make the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers clean and raise Lazarus from the dead can heal any physical ailment.
We’d taken my daughter and grand-daughter to a magic show and both my husband and grand had participated in two rather impressive illusions. On the way home, we three adults tried to figure out how each trick had been done. We explored various scenarios that might explain how the $50 bill with my husband’s signature on it ended up in the middle of an uncut orange, in a paper bag, and in a locked box that was in another locked box across the stage. We also tried to figure out how the magician used an elaborate series of mathematical calculations to know the age of our grand’s dog in dog years. (The dog, not there and being 105 in dog years, was most definitely not your average dog.) While we pondered various scenarios, my grand piped up, “Stop trying to figure it out. It was magic!” While it was an entertaining show, we know it wasn’t magic; it was just a carefully orchestrated and well-executed series of tricks. Nevertheless, we continued to want to know how each had been done. There is something about us all that wants to make sense of that which makes no sense. Sometimes, however, that can’t be done.
It’s springtime in the mountains and I’m thrilled to see that it’s snowing. Although I was hoping for at least one more powder day on the mountain, that’s not why I’m pleased. I’m happy because, once again, everything looks pristine and clean. You see, March’s warmer temperatures and sunshine have been busy melting the nearly 300 inches of snow we’ve had this season. As that white stuff gradually disappears, ugliness is uncovered. Hidden under those mounds of snow is four months’ worth of unsightly litter, pollution, exhaust and smoke residue, scoria and gravel. That filthy accumulation is now making its appearance along the roadways. As the snow recedes along the footpaths, it’s not just lost mittens, discarded tissues and cigarette butts that emerge but also the dog dirt and moose and elk pellets from the animals who have ventured onto the trails. As beautiful as springtime in the mountains can be, this ugliness is part of what we call “mud season.” Today’s snow covers it all up again and I can briefly forget the filth hiding beneath it. It’s sort of like sweeping dirt under the carpet or painting over handprints on the wall; although the grime is still there, it doesn’t bother us because it can’t be seen.
Devotions of the Heart 