Front and Center

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2 ESV). Many years ago, as today, the best seats to have in a theater were always those on the front row and in the center of the row. Thus, when people want to indicate something or someone is in the position of maximum prominence they would say that person is “front and center. In our reading today Moses wants to make sure we understand that God is of the maximum prominence in the creation of the universe. Simply put, everything begins with God. Here on the first page of the first book of the Bible, God is present, active, and in charge. As Eugene Peterson says in his introduction to Genesis, this is a story that starts and ends with God. It is “not God at the margins; not God as an option; not God on the weekends. God is at center and circumference.” This is the wonder of creation: that God is everywhere in it, handcrafting a world, speaking it into existence, making it ready for the crown of creation, and then pronouncing it all “good.” When our sense of the wonder of creation dulls, God is marginalized. This year the bluebonnets were not as plentiful as in years past, yet they were still breathtaking throughout the fields along Texas highways. It certainly was not commonplace. Perhaps for those who see this riot of blue blanketing the roadside every year it is; however, for me, it was a welcome sight that drew me aside to the wonder and majesty of the hand of God. I often wonder if we have become so callous to the “ordinary” work of God that we fail to recognize the wonder of that work. The sun as it rises or sets ought to give us deep pause as we recognize the hand of God in it. Wouldn’t it have been just as easy for God to have created the cycle of day and night without the light bursting through the atmospheric conditions to produce the vivid oranges, reds, and purples? Shouldn’t we recognize the hand of God in every simple pleasure from the stimulation of our senses that God has provided? We can train our souls to find wonder in all of creation, but it takes intentionality. Today, count your blessings before you go to sleep and include among them whatever beauty you observed during the day. Practice grace-filled living by finding God in every experience of the day. Read the creation story or a psalm. Most importantly, base your life on the understanding that God is at the front and center of every moment.