here and there

i must confess i'm finding this disciplines thing difficult. i guess that's the reason it's called a discipline. i like to excuse myself by thinking it's hard to get back into something after not doing it for a few years, but who am i kidding. i just have to stop the talk and start at some point.

i've read some bits in genesis here and there. i'm at about chapter three. i find myself getting side-tracked a bit with nit-picky bits. i grew up loving the whole creation/evolution controversy, so when i read the beginning of genesis much of it has ties in those kinds of conversations for me. additionally, i find myself getting distracted with wierd questions like, how do we know that the snake in the garden was satan? how do we know it wasn't just a snake? maybe there's some reference elsewhere i need to find. but really, what difference does it make? the story isn't about the snake.

personally, i stopped caring whether genesis one and two are referring to short days or long days or evolution or whatever. i think that discussion misses the point. i prefer to read genesis one as poetry now. i think it is a beautiful poem. it gives us our origin. it frames our existence in a world that has meaning and purpose and beauty. and it does that regardless of what method was employed in creating.

i love the stories in genesis. i'm looking forward to reading them again. they are so rich, but i love them mostly because the are the stories about the beginnings of our faith. they are stories about some of God's actions in beginning the process of healing and restoration and how people cooperated or didn't in that process. these are the stories that framed an understanding of God for all the authors of the rest of the scriptures. the judges and kings and prophets and apostles, jesus himself, were all influenced directly by the stories found in genesis. stories of faith, stories of failure. stories of heartache and trust and deliverance. stories that teach us that God is a provider, that God will judge evil, that God is faithful, that God is passionate, that God is creative, and so many other things.

genesis. beginnings. maybe this week i will continue to work on beginning this habit of reading and journaling.