Sunrise In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1: 1-3, New International Version)

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating he had done.(Genesis 2: 2,3, NIV)

“In the beginning there was only darkness everywhere – darkness and water. And the darkness gathered thick in places, crowding together and then separating, crowding and separating, until at last, out of one of the places where the darkness had crowded there came forth a man. This man wandered through the darkness until he began to think; then he knew himself and that he was a man; he knew that he was there for some purpose.” (As told by Pima Chief Visak-Vo-o-yim (Hovering Hawk) in the “Song of the World”)

Janine C. Hagan, Editor My quest for “Sabbath” thoughts began with scripture and ended with this Indian song. I was delighted to discover this story-song from a rare book. And when I looked at both stories together I began to see a pattern of stillness and then life or “light.” The pattern seems to belong to so many of us. We suffer empty, formless, dark times, then much later life and energy somehow bursts forth and brings new wisdom as well as bearing fruit. Dark, light, dark, life. God-in-all-of-the-process.

As I read that first account of the creation, I started to imagine Sabbath time, how we use, abuse, or do not claim it. Whole articles are written about how we as a society in the United States spend a great deal of money on leisure but actually take very little time off. Rather, we grab at “down time” in snatches, like junk food.

Given our current physical issues, I think that it would benefit not only our souls but our bodies to take seriously different ways we can honor Sabbath or “holy” time. How can we reclaim time for God, for resting, reading, painting, cookie-baking, talking to our plants, grooming our pets, playing in the water, dancing, singing, swinging, writing, walking down the street, down the beach or into the woods, day-dreaming, praying, meditating, breathing deeply, or blowing bubbles off of the back porch? Don’t forget the rocking chair for those of us who seem to keep moving anyway...

From photography and poetry written in Japan to our Louisiana interview with Rev. Dan Krutz of Churches Uniting in Christ, we are reflecting in the very best of our ecumininet™ online! tradition. Photographers, writers, poets, and, best of all, unique perspectives bring creativity, wisdom and faith-wondering into our souls to lead us in new directions.

Thank you for sharing some of your summer and stillness with us.

Janine@ecumininet.com

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