God as Creator

I've been on a quest lately. Many of the ways in which I thought about God and about faith have come into question for me this past year. It's not that I'm questioning my faith, but questioning how I think about faith. How do I define God? Based on that, how do I relate to and with God. How should a relationship with God change me and how I interact with others? I'd operated in auto-pilot for years and just took the controls back into my hands and am trying to figure out where I'm at.

I long to know God. Not who I want God to be (although I have to say that effects me more so than I'd like to admit), but who the Divine is. In that quest, I also want to know who I am in relationship to the Divine. So, I'm embarking on a personal study this year. I'm going to look at the names and descriptions of God in the bible.

Today, I'm starting at the beginning, at Creation. Growing up in a conservative church, I've always been taught Creationism or Intelligent Design and pretty much mocked Evolution. Quite frankly, I don't know enough about the arguments of either side to present the case well. For me, though, it is not necessary to understand creation as a literal seven-day process in order to maintain the integrity of the story and it's purpose in relating God's work.

God as Creator is just that, creative. It amazes me to look at the world around me and imagine that this all started as a so-call "spark" in God's eye. Imagination at its finest. The intracies of a snowflake. The rugged cliffs of a mountain. The various species of animals and plants that live together and create a stable ecosystem. You just can't top God for creativity. But more than just creating, God created for relationship and called creation good. That personal side, the side that desires for relationship, that works throughout history to reconcile creation to back to the Creator, is unfathomable to me. How do I approach a God that is both transcendent and immanent, Being that is both beyond comprehension and yet also within the limits of comprehension? I think creation gives a peak into this mystery. God is beyond creation because he is the Creator. At the same time, God creates to fill his need and describes it as good. At this point, the Creator steps into creation. The Divine walks with Adam and Eve in the garden. God is within human experience.

How does this change me, then? If I'm made in God's image, then I'm also a creator. As a woman, I naturally think of my children. The process of each of them growing inside me and then making their debut into the world is amazing. I wonder if God weaped with joy when I was born the way I did for my oldest? I also think that creator is more than making, it's creative energy. Energy, I think, to serve and care for Creation.

Divine Creator, move in me. You are beyond my knowledge, yet you reveal yourself to me. You love me, the created. As the Creator, you call me to love your creation. Use the creative energy you have placed in me to do your will on the Earth. Amen.