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]
I recently received an email from a Christian bookstore apologizing for one of their advertisements. Apparently, there had been objections to their “journaling” Bible ad, not because of the possible defacing of a Bible with doodles but because of the ad’s subject line: “Channel Your Inner Creative.” Customers protested their use of “inappropriate” New Age language. While the store’s goal had been to “embrace and celebrate the gift of creativity,” some people thought they were touting “channeling,” a New Age form of spiritualism. When channeling, people yield control of their discerning and reasoning faculties and enter a meditative or trancelike state in order to receive messages from a spiritual guide. When I first saw the ad, I gave no thought to its wording; I simply thought they were offering Bibles with extra wide margins so the reader could write notes or prayers on the pages. In their apology, the store promised to be “more vigilant and discerning” about their messaging. My first reaction upon receiving the apology was, ”Come on people—get a life!” I considered the complainers to be the kind of prissy judgmental people who give Christians a bad name.
After the GPS flawlessly led us to our hotel in Orlando, we wondered how a satellite navigation system can keep track of countless cars and their various destinations. The following day, I looked at the GPS screen and the arrow indicating our position was several blocks east of us. It seemed to think we were driving over a golf course, across a canal and into a lake. Apparently, that eye in the sky is nowhere near as accurate as we’d originally thought. There are around 24 satellites orbiting at any one time to provide us with global positioning and we need to receive signals from at least three of them to get accurate directions. The line between the satellites and GPS must be unobstructed, so tall buildings, heavy woods, tunnels, mountains, and storms can all interfere with receiving a signal. We figured something had interfered with the satellites’ view of us. Later that day, after following its directions to Sea World, our faith in the system was shattered. As we passed Sea World’s clearly marked exit, we were told to continue five miles eastward and then go north. At that point, we consulted a map and turned around. Personally, I think we got someone else’s directions to an entirely different location! We were just one car among thousands of tourists using their GPS to guide them through the land of Mickey Mouse. Perhaps the system was overloaded and some other poor soul was being led to Sea Word when he probably wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom. Who knows? All I know is that I’m not getting rid of our maps anytime soon!
Recently, we provided dinner for a local skateboard church ministry that serves teens and young adults. If church is a hospital for wretched souls, this one is a MASH unit for them! Most of the youth have troubled pasts and few come from faith-based homes or with any knowledge of the Bible. Many, however, have transformed their lives as they have come to know Jesus through this ministry.
