Beginnings

All good things must start somewhere.  It seems that my summer adventure to Turkey and Greece first starts here at home. This beginning is full of goodbyes to friends and family. I’m even saying goodbye to Spokane herself. I admire the way Spokane is covered with green leaves and perennials, and I know that the next time I see her she will be shrouded in winter snow.

I confess that I am not completely prepared for everything I am going to experience in Turkey and Greece. I try not to think about it too much, I’d much rather be surprised by the whole experience. I know that I will learn a lot and see a lot. I imagine that my mind will be stretched and warped in ways unimaginable at the moment.

In this blog I hope to share some brief glimpses at what I’m experiencing and learning during this summer adventure. This blog is part of my class credit for Biblical Heritage, and I must confess that I am rather nervous about this whole blogging experience.  Anyone could read what I’m saying here, and I’m getting graded for it. The pressure is too much! I think I’ll try to overcome this pressure by just being excited over everything that is going on.  As my mother is fond of telling me when I complain about life’s pressures, “You’ll live.”

I suppose it’s appropriate to reflect on Genesis 1 and 2, since this blog post is about beginnings. Every time I read Genesis I am delighted to think about how the stars, water, and everything else came about in seven days. I am aware that many people do not believe in a literal seven day creation account, and I do think there is some merit to their claims. I prefer the traditional literal seven day creation account. It seems more magical. I especially love how God speaks everything into existence. Existence is inherently intertwined with words.

From the beginning, God separated humans from the rest of creation. God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26, ESV). In a sense, God created the first system of government. He gave humans dominion over creation. God created the world as a world of order.

Of course, the world of Adam and Eve is not the same world we experience today. This world was perfect. Adam was the keeper of the garden. There was no shame in nakedness. What happened? As much as I love all the gardens by my house, I would not say that life is a garden. Something dramatic changed the world, and in order to understand this story I must continue reading Genesis.