Very good

Still thinking about Genesis chapter 1 this morning, toady appreciating that statement at the end of most of the days of creation, "and God saw that it was good." (Gen. 1:12, 18, 21, 25) After each progressive step of creation, God pauses, looks at what He did, and confirms its goodness, its rightness, fitness, correctness, wholeness, etc.

And it struck me - hadn't really stood out to me before now - at the end of the six day, when all elements are done, God looks at the whole and declares that "it was very good." (Gen. 1:31) The whole is not just good, as He declared each stage, but exceedingly so. The whole is good to a high degree.

To me, this is saying that each element is needed and combines with the others to lift the whole to the highest sense of perfection and good. To the fullness of God's expression. Each element of God's creation is essential to support the others, to enable the others to fully express God in the way He created it to express Him. And to achieve this full expression of good, of harmony and perfection and health, we need that first element of creation - light - to shine on us all to help us see what God saw - harmony, order, good. We have to have light to see by and to reflect!

I'm praying with these ideas especially for all that is going on in the Middle East right now. Praying to know that each individual in this wonderful world of ours is essential, is needed to support and enrich the lives and experiences of others, and that the impact of each others lives can only bless one another because, as God's creation, we are good and upright. Affirming that each individual is so loved by divine Love, our infinite Creator and only experiences and expresses to all around him/her/it that infinite Love. I'm praying to realize that the ultimate seal of approval - that every thing that God had made was "very good" - ensures the harmony in our relationships, the moral excellence that we each express in our relationships with others, that everyone's actions are well-behaved and bless all those around us and that eveyrone can see and experience this spiritual fact now.

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. ... And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. " (Phil 4:4, 7)