It seems to me that sometimes in church we seem to see creation as something that happened. It’s as though God ‘did creation’ in under a week, rested a while and that’s it. There are of course subsequently instances of God’s revelation but it’s always revelation that happened ‘way back then’ and is recorded in Scripture. From time to time in the Hebrew Scriptures God appeared through the odd burning bush a few smitings and getting the people of Israel out of a jam occasionally, such as out of the hands of the Egyptians. God also sent various prophets to try to get the message across, to no avail, the people just killed them.

Finally, rather fed up, God sent his only begotten son to show sinful humanity how it should be done, even to the extent of laying down His life. God knew that most people wouldn’t get it, but that the penny would drop for a minority and that would make all thedifference. Christ’s ministry was then written up in the Gospels and added to by revelation to the Apostle Paul and to St John the Divine and then that was it. There’s nothing further to be said except continuous praise and thanksgiving to God.

Now I stress that this is only how it sometimes seems.  That’s not what I believe and for me that understanding of things just doesn’t work. God may have rested on the Sabbath, but come Monday morning, was back in the office continuing the work of creation as part of continuing revelation. God’s revelation occurs not only in what was created but also in the ways of creation, in it’s development and evolution, but also in the lives of individuals, communities and cosmically. 

The evidence is all around us, if we only have eyes to see and ears to hear, but sometimes it’s revealed in living ‘parables’ that many neither see nor hear, what is all around them if they only stopped to look and listen. None of this denies the truth of Scripture, it’s just that it doesn’t end there. If one believes, as I do, that God’s continuing revelation is a part of who/what God is then it follows as night follows day that creation must be continuing because that’s a fundamental part of the nature of God.

I find it awesome how God’s creation can so often adapt and change no matter what humanity does to it: spoil heaps, poisoned ground, polluted air and contaminated seas and waterways, creation has considerable in-built ability to bring forth organisms and communities that can colonise and ameliorate.  However the problem is that it’s not always on a timescale that’s helpful to humanity. That of course is why we have a climate crisis.Now that is something to reflect on this month, in this the Season of Creation.

Blessings
James