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Creational Devotional |Day Four
Day Four: The Solar System
Today’s Reading
(Genesis 1, verses 14-19)
And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate
the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for
days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light
upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights
– the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night
– and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light
upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate
the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Prayer
Dear God,
Throughout this swirling galaxy, and beyond, we marvel at Your glory
spinning through the lights of the heavens. Inside of our own beings,
we marvel at the "stars" You place therein. Amen.
(Another excellent prayer for this day, from Gregory Petrov, may be found in Earth Prayers from Around the World, by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, eds., New York: HarperCollins, 1991, pp. 232-3.)
Meditation Options
(1) Activities and reading for children to adults.
- Go somewhere tonight where you can see the sunset. Take some time to quietly watch the sun set. Talk about the colors you can see, the change in temperature after it sets, where it "goes" once it sets, where it will rise (in relation to your house) tomorrow, etc. How old do you think the sun might be? (Scientists think it’s about 5 billion years old!) What sorts of things make up the sun? (Older children and adults, please see reading #2 in this section.) When you get home, try to draw a picture of, or write a story/song/poem about, the sunset.
- Go outside tonight (or watch from your window in a dark room) and look for the moon and stars. Is the moon becoming full or is it approaching the “new,” invisible phase? If it's a clear night, try to locate some familiar constellations like Orion’s Belt or the Big and Little Dipper. Do you like to know the stars by name? If so, why? What sorts of things make up the moon and stars? How are the stars like the sun? (Again, older children and adults, please see reading #2 in this section.)
- In your setting of choice, please read this reading:
Many years ago, about eight hundred actually, St. Francis of Assisi lived
in Italy. St. Francis had an amazing gift from God: he was able to
see and feel God’s love and care coming through just about everything in
nature – including birds, rivers, and other human beings. Because
of this gift, he came to love all parts of Creation as if they were members
of his own family. We still have one of his special prayers, “the
Canticle [Song] to Brother Sun.” Here is a part of this prayer:
“Be praised my Lord with all your creatures, but especially with
Brother Sun because you show us light and day through him and he is lovely,
glowing with great shine from you my Lord . . ..”
Here is something that a little girl, living in a big city, said recently
– her words remind me of St. Francis’ thanks to God for Brother Sun.
She says:
“At night, sometimes, when I am feeling real low, I’ll climb
up the stairs to our roof [she lived in a triple-decker building with a
flat roof], and I’ll look at the sky, and I’ll say, hello there, you moon
and all you babies – stars!” (Sallie McFague, Super, Natural Christians:
How we should love nature, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997, p. 23.)
This little girl feels thankful for her comforting “friends” – the moon and the star babies. How can it be that something as big as the sun or moon, or as abundant as the stars, is like a friend or a member of our family? Maybe part of an answer comes when we respect and appreciate something so much that it feels like a part of our family, a part of God’s family. What do you think? Is there something in nature that you think of as a friend or a member of your family?
(2) Reading for older children to adults.
If we allow ourselves to listen to other people and their insights, we can
have our own insight and imagination sparked in life-giving ways.
Scientists, for example, think that all of the energy and matter that is
presently with us on the Earth, has always
been with us. This is to say (at
least according to the first law of thermodynamics) that matter and energy is
neither created nor destroyed, it just
changes forms. If, as
scientists also believe, stars were born from very first atoms (hydrogen,
helium, and later carbon and others), then all of these atoms – the energy and
matter that was present from the beginning of the universe – is still here
with us today! These primordial
bits of 15-billion-year-old stars are with us today in countless forms: in other
stars and planets, and in the Earth’s rocks, trees, insects, oceans, birds,
and even within our own bodies! We
are blessed with such an amazing connection to the past, to the future, and to
all other members of creation!
Growing Prayer
(One person:) Dear God,
As the winds continue to caress the waters of creation,
As the waves of the sea crash loudly,
As the hills and trees stand strong together,
And the sun, moon, and stars shine brightly,
All expressing thanks to You,
So we thank You for Your continued presence throughout the entire family
of creation.
(Everyone:) And God saw that creation was good! Amen.