Beginning with Creation

I am read Genesis 1:1-2:3 today. There were some verses that particularly resonated with me and my personal goals at this time.

Genesis 1:26-31 and Genesis 2:1-3 (http://www.wordproject.org/bibles/multi/eur/bible.htm)

In English

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

In Spanish

26 Y dijo Dios: Hagamos al hombre á nuestra imagen, conforme á nuestra semejanza; y señoree en los peces de la mar, y en las aves de los cielos, y en las bestias, y en toda la tierra, y en todo animal que anda arrastrando sobre la tierra.
27 Y crió Dios al hombre á su imagen, á imagen de Dios lo crió; varón y hembra los crió.
28 Y los bendijo Dios; y díjoles Dios: Fructificad y multiplicad, y henchid la tierra, y sojuzgadla, y señoread en los peces de la mar, y en las aves de los cielos, y en todas las bestias que se mueven sobre la tierra.
29 Y dijo Dios: He aquí que os he dado toda hierba que da simiente, que está sobre la haz de toda la tierra; y todo árbol en que hay fruto de árbol que da simiente, seros ha para comer.
30 Y á toda bestia de la tierra, y á todas las aves de los cielos, y á todo lo que se mueve sobre la tierra, en que hay vida, toda hierba verde les será para comer: y fué así.
31 Y vió Dios todo lo que había hecho, y he aquí que era bueno en gran manera. Y fué la tarde y la mañana el día sexto.

1 Y FUERON acabados los cielos y la tierra, y todo su ornamento.
2 Y acabó Dios en el día séptimo su obra que hizo, y reposó el día séptimo de toda su obra que había hecho.
3 Y bendijo Dios al día séptimo, y santificólo, porque en él reposó de toda su obra que había Dios criado y hecho.

In French

26 Puis Dieu dit: Faisons l'homme à notre image, selon notre ressemblance, et qu'il domine sur les poissons de la mer, sur les oiseaux du ciel, sur le bétail, sur toute la terre, et sur tous les reptiles qui rampent sur la terre.
27 Dieu créa l'homme à son image, il le créa à l'image de Dieu, il créa l'homme et la femme.
28 Dieu les bénit, et Dieu leur dit: Soyez féconds, multipliez, remplissez la terre, et l'assujettissez; et dominez sur les poissons de la mer, sur les oiseaux du ciel, et sur tout animal qui se meut sur la terre.
29 Et Dieu dit: Voici, je vous donne toute herbe portant de la semence et qui est à la surface de toute la terre, et tout arbre ayant en lui du fruit d'arbre et portant de la semence: ce sera votre nourriture.
30 Et à tout animal de la terre, à tout oiseau du ciel, et à tout ce qui se meut sur la terre, ayant en soi un souffle de vie, je donne toute herbe verte pour nourriture. Et cela fut ainsi.
31 Dieu vit tout ce qu'il avait fait et voici, cela était très bon. Ainsi, il y eut un soir, et il y eut un matin: ce fut le sixième jour.

1 Ainsi furent achevés les cieux et la terre, et toute leur armée.
2 Dieu acheva au septième jour son oeuvre, qu'il avait faite: et il se reposa au septième jour de toute son oeuvre, qu'il avait faite.
3 Dieu bénit le septième jour, et il le sanctifia, parce qu'en ce jour il se reposa de toute son oeuvre qu'il avait créée en la faisant.

My Personal Thoughts

First, God made us in His image.  I like to think physically, but I know spiritually.  He made us faithful, forgiving, hopeful, and most importantly, LOVING.  We should strive to live these qualities  in each moment so that we may truly BE in His image.

Second, He has provided everything we need!  Over and over this is repeated in Scripture and in our lives, starting before any man was created. 

Which leads me to the third...
God even rested.  I don't know why we feel as though resting and not working is bad.  We live in a "go! go! go!" world.  But not even God goes that much.  He is always there for us, but He RESTED!  If even God rests, why don't we think that we should.  It is because we do not trust Him to do as He always has: take care of us.  Yes, we must work, but we also pray!  Then we have faith and trust that God will provide for us.

WE CANNOT PRAY AND HAVE FAITH AND STILL FEEL STRESS!  If we truly trust God, we must believe that He can handle it and that ALL (not just what we like) is according to His Will. 

Finally, not only did God rest, He admired His work, as should we.  We should be grateful for God's blessings--our gifts and talents and His creation.

As Applied to My Life

I am on a mission to reduce my stress.  I am going to do this by realizing that God is in charge and that He loves me.  (That puts everything else into perspective for me!)  Next, I am going to work my faith, taking comfort in knowing that He will provide everything that I need and that He has a plan.  He has been doing this for me since the beginning of time.  I KNOW that He won't stop now!  Finally, I am going to take time to rest, relax, and reflect, being grateful for His creation and the blessings it offers as well as my own gifts and talents and the work I can do because of them.  Finally, I will try harder to live my life in gratitude, each night thanking the Lord for everything that is good in my life!

I had to learn this poem in middle school. I love it and my son loves it!




THE CREATION
by: James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)

AND God stepped out on space,
And He looked around and said,
"I'm lonely --
I'll make me a world."

And far as the eye of God could see
Darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights
Down in a cypress swamp.

Then God smiled,
And the light broke,
And the darkness rolled up on one side,
And the light stood shining on the other,
And God said, "That's good!"

Then God reached out and took the light in His hands,
And God rolled the light around in His hands
Until He made the sun;
And He set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.
And the light that was left from making the sun
God gathered it up in a shining ball
And flung it against the darkness,
Spangling the night with the moon and stars.
Then down between
The darkness and the light
He hurled the world;
And God said, "That's good!"

Then God himself stepped down --
And the sun was on His right hand,
And the moon was on His left;
The stars were clustered about His head,
And the earth was under His feet.
And God walked, and where He trod
His footsteps hollowed the valleys out
And bulged the mountains up.

Then He stopped and looked and saw
That the earth was hot and barren.
So God stepped over to the edge of the world
And He spat out the seven seas;
He batted His eyes, and the lightnings flashed;
He clapped His hands, and the thunders rolled;
And the waters above the earth came down,
The cooling waters came down.

Then the green grass sprouted,
And the little red flowers blossomed,
The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky,
And the oak spread out his arms,
The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground,
And the rivers ran down to the sea;
And God smiled again,
And the rainbow appeared,
And curled itself around His shoulder.

Then God raised His arm and He waved His hand
Over the sea and over the land,
And He said, "Bring forth! Bring forth!"
And quicker than God could drop His hand.
Fishes and fowls
And beasts and birds
Swam the rivers and the seas,
Roamed the forests and the woods,
And split the air with their wings.
And God said, "That's good!"

Then God walked around,
And God looked around
On all that He had made.
He looked at His sun,
And He looked at His moon,
And He looked at His little stars;
He looked on His world
With all its living things,
And God said, "I'm lonely still."

Then God sat down
On the side of a hill where He could think;
By a deep, wide river He sat down;
With His head in His hands,
God thought and thought,
Till He thought, "I'll make me a man!"

Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled Him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of His hand;
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;

Then into it He blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen. Amen.
"The Creation" is reprinted from The Book of American Negro Poetry. Ed. James Weldon Johnson. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1922.
MORE POEMS BY JAMES WELDON JOHNSON