In the Beginning God
Genesis chapter one is a picture in words. It gives us a first look at how we can view what it means to know God. Earth, our human dwelling place, had a temporal beginning; it is not eternal. God has provided it as a place for the purpose of bringing forth human life. The earth was made beautiful, orderly and good. The creation was to be a place of time. The creation was to be a place of continued flourishing. The creation was a place in which human beings—male and female—were meant to take responsibility. This entrusted dominion over the earth helps one understand that what we do with life on earth—how we treat this place—gives us insight to our relationship with God. Te be human—in the image of God—means in part, to be responsible to God for the creation given by God and the creation continued for God.
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My reading bag. I carry around a canvas bag filled with books that I am reading. Occasionally, I read something else, too, usually a mystery of some sort. But in my reading bag this first week of 2021 I have nine books.
Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace (second time through)
Ellen Davis, Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture
Edwin Friedman, Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, A Failure of Nerve (second time through)
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
C.S. Lewis, Perelandra
Paul Lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery (African Studies)
Don Reid, The Music of The Statler Brothers: An Anthology (Music and the American South)
Alan Taylor, Thomas Jefferson’s Education
Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel, Religious Institutions
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Our grandchildren continue to teach us. This new year I greet 2021 as they have taught me when they jump from the car and run toward me with laughter shining in their faces, “Hi Pal!” Life, each day, is a gift to greet with joy.
