The First Day of Creation
John Muir once wrote, “We live in ‘creation’s dawn.’ The morning stars still sing together, and the world, though made, is still being made and becomes more beautiful every day.” I have long loved this quote. Recently I ran across a hymn that echoes Muir’s thoughts. It’s called “The First Day of Creation” and was written by Thomas H. Troeger. Here are the words: “The first day of creation is dawning in the soul, upon the deep God hovers where fear and chaos roll. The inward dark is parting. The seas make room for land. Great shorelines are emerging a new world is at hand! Yet God is recreating more than our inner world: look up beyond the planets where galaxies are swirled. Look out and see how often surprising love is shown. Christ is at work reshaping both stars and hearts of stone. All life in Christ is compassed by that transforming grace which spins new worlds and wonders in every time and place. O Twirler of the stardust, O Light no darkness rims, your new creation pulses with worship, praise and hymns.”
I find comfort in the thought that each new day the Creator is at work both in the world and in our hearts. Every sunrise is a reminder that God remains active in our lives. Every day the Maker of heaven and earth is creating, preserving and sustaining the world and all who dwell therein. God did not create the world and then back away. No, God continues the work of creation to this very day.
I suspect this is a message many need to hear today. 2020 has been a wild and rocky ride for most of us. So much in our lives has been turned upside down. The deadly pandemic caused by Covid-19 has resulted in a great deal of fear, anxiety, and stress. Some may wonder if God has forsaken us. The good news is that our Maker is still very much with us and makes this known with the gift of each new day. Lamentations 3:22-23 says “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
This Thanksgiving I will give thanks for God’s faithfulness—a faithfulness revealed each day in God’s ongoing work of Creation and in God’s work in the lives of people like you and me. I will likewise give thanks that “God hovers where fear and chaos roll” and that “Christ is at work reshaping both stars and hearts of stone.” Even in 2020 we still have so very much to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
–Chuck