in the beginning

in another line of questioning:

questioning what it looks like to create, to lead, to step into mission and purpose in my life, questioning how to look and sound more like Jesus in my life,

I have to look at the beginning.

the bible starts with the infamous creation story when God created the world and the creatures on it in 7 days. I don’t have anything to say in light of the factuality/literal nature of the story. but if I want to build and create meaningful things in my life, I guess I should take note of Project World Creation. did God model what creation might look like in us? we were described as “created in his image” after all.

to start with it, took a team. all three persons of the trinity were described as present at creation, and throughout scripture they all played a role in ongoing “creating”. God creates with his words, the Spirit creates with his presence, and Jesus creates with his hands. how cool. and what a model: a 3-fold approach to creating.

this makes me take assessment of my own life: what am I creating with my words (in my head or out loud)? what am I creating with my presence? what am I creating with my hands?

to take it a layer deeper. let’s set the table.

God created the trees. Jesus built tables (the carpenter bit).

God creates the raw materials, Jesus builds with them – builds a point of human connection, a setting for experiences, a site of refreshing, a place for a feast.

what a model of what it means to be human: I take the raw materials that are in front of me, in my hands, and build something entirely different, but something perfectly designed for the feast that God wants to put in front of people. what a challenge, how humbling. the feast is not me, my intellect, my image, but God chooses to use me in the process: co-creating.

what raw materials do I have? what am I creating?

Our culture strives for “a seat at the table”.

But what if the goal is to be a table-maker?