Breaking into our World

Oh tiny seed, planted in the soil of Creation

hidden joy and mystery

Warmed by the love of God

springing up in joyful expectation

Growing up to become the largest of shrubs

sheltering all of Creation in its shade. 

The kingdom of God.  

Christians for the most part have this kind of hope: for a superhero Christ to return in this Second Coming, and instantly transform all of Creation into the Peaceable Kingdom of God.  Christians are awaiting the Messiah, only Christians believe that Christ came once already, and now they await his return in glory.  In many ways, nothing has changed. 

The biggest flaw in this Second-Coming-as-superhero type scenario is the idea that the God who created us as totally free-willed creatures will suddenly come along and coerce all of Creation into peace and harmony at the end of time.  God has not worked that way, God does not work that way, and God is not going to work that way.  God is not a God of coercion who will somehow force or manipulate Creation into harmony and rob it of freedom.  God is not creating the kingdom of God through violence, and will not take away from Creation the gift of freedom.  Somehow this great peace and harmony, and the blessing of all Creation, is going to happen through people who still have their free wills.  Therefore God must persuade, rather than coerce, us to peace. 

God is a God of persuasion, who calls us into harmony and peace, and through Christ, shows us the way to harmony and peace.  We, all the people of the world, not only the baptized, are the instruments of God’s shalom peace -- if we but knew it.  From the beginning God created people for a purpose.  All of humanity is created in God’s image, and we are all God’s children.  Christians have to wake up to the realization of who we are in God, and one by one awaken all the rest of God’s children, and call these children to maturity.  We have to start following the way, the truth and the light, and let the kingdom of God grow, and spread and become.  We are God’s children, but we are not meant to stay as immature infants.  We are called to maturity and partnership with God.  And we are called to wake up all the rest of humanity to its role as partners with God.  All of humanity has been created for this partnership with God.  We are not mere spectators of Creation, called to be God’s cheerleaders, shouting or singing alleluias.  We are created to enter into the plan of Creation, and are an active part of God’s plan.

 
Want to read more?  Go HERE. 

Creation Groans

Creation groans and is in agony

we, called to free her, are her doom.

God created and all was good

but God gave her to us to mind.

Now she labors nearly in vain,

yet not without a bit of hope.

Ignorant of who we really are

God’s children walk asleep.

Creation waits with patient hope

for God’s children to awake. 

All Creation waits and yearns and longs

to hear --

the sleepers have awakened!

-------

When I wrote these words as the opening to my first chapter the situation in our world in regard to climate change was already becoming more obvious.  Today it seems there is little doubt that the change in climate that is coming to our world is caused by humanity, and is getting worse.  As I wrote:

Christianity has not been very effective as a transforming agent.  Here and there a little progress into God’s kingdom has been made, but not enough, not by far enough.  As the ongoing presence of the anointed one of God, or the Christ/Messiah, we have a mission.  We are supposed to bring about the harmonious coexistence of all peoples -- free of war, fear, poverty, hatred and intolerance.  And we are to restore to all of Creation the goodness of its being.  Only when these things are being accomplished, at least in some measure, will all of humanity know that the one we call Jesus is truly the Christ/Messiah/God. 

Salvation is not about getting yourself to heaven, it is about bringing the ways of God to earth.  God expects so much more of us, and still has faith in us to save not just ourselves, but the world.  God's faith in us astonishes me, because I often look at humanity and shake my head in doubt that we will ever wake up to our potential with God.   

New Beginnings

This is a new beginning for a blog that I closed down due to too many problems with hackers.  I decided to come to Google Blogger, as I've had success with another blog here.  At the same time I am creating this new, yet old, blog I've created a new website to go with it.  You can find the website at All Creation Waits.  There is not a lot here now, but this will change as I get back to posting.  Old friends -- welcome back.  New friends -- welcome.

This blog was originally born because of the book, All Creation Waits, published in 2009.  You can find more about how that book came to be written at the website above.  It you are interested in the book, you can find it HERE.