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Creational Devotional |Day Six
Day Six: Abundant, Living
Creatures
(Part II)
Today’s Reading
(Genesis 1, verses 24-31)
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every
kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every
kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth
of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps
upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God
created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male
and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion
over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See,
I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all
the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for
food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air,
and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath
of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God saw it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning,
the sixth day.
Prayer
Dear God,
May we know Your presence in creation so well
and come to love this presence so much
and care for this presence so deeply
that we will want to know and love and care for everything that lives,
moves, and has being in You. Amen.
(Another excellent prayer for this day, from Gary Snyder, may be found for this day in Earth Prayers from Around the World, by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, eds., New York: HarperCollins, 1991, p. 266)
Meditation Options
(1) Activity and reading for families and groups with children.
(Set up chairs, blankets, and/or boxes, or just sit on the floor, so
that it feels like you’re in a boat. Then, please read:) This isn’t
any ordinary boat; this one is huge!! Huge enough to carry you and
two of every kind of crawling and flying creature that you can imagine.
Yes, you’ve guessed right, we’re building an ark. In Noah’s time,
the world was a very scary place because humans had hurt other parts of
God’s beautiful creation so much. Sometimes, it can feel like we’re
living back in Noah’s days because humans do so many things to hurt God’s
creation. But today, we have a special time to practice “dominion”
in a way that cares for and loves the other members of God’s created family.
For Noah and his family, the word “dominion” meant that they used all of
the energy in their bodies to make sure that God’s family of creation would
be safe. Noah helped to round up all the animals, and a special midrash
(a Hebrew story that explains a part of the Bible) tells us that Noah’s wife,
Naamah, worked very hard to
lovingly gather all the plant species on the earth. These wise people
remembered that God also wants animals and plants to “be fruitful and multiply,”
and we can be wise in remembering this too. So! Here we go – into
our ark! Choose one of your favorite animal or plant “brothers and
sisters” and pretend that you are this part of creation. For
example, you can make the sound of an animal friend, flap your arms like
a bird, or pretend that you are growing like a beautiful rose. One
by one, guess who your fellow creatures are and tell each other what you
like about the part of creation you’ve chosen. When you’re done mooing,
flapping, growing, and explaining please read this verse from Genesis 9:12-15,
in which God talks about a promise of a special relationship, a “covenant,”
with animals, plants, humans ... all creation!
God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between
me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations:
I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant
between me and the earth. . . . and the waters shall never again become
a flood to destroy all flesh.”
All creation is in the “same boat” – a boat that’s as big as
the entire world. God has made a promise (a covenant) to care for all members
of the family of creation – may we learn to care as God cares.
(2) Meditative prayer for older children to adults.
(From St. Basil the Great in Jon Wynne-Tyson, ed., The Extended
Circle: A Dictionary of Human Thought, Sussex, UK: Centaur Press, 1985;
reprinted in Andrew Linzey and Tom Regan, eds., Love the Animals: Meditations
and Prayers, New York: Crossroad, 1989, p. 34)
“O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, our brothers the animals to whom thou gavest the earth as their home
in common with us.
We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high
dominion of man with ruthless cruelty so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to thee in
song, has been a groan of travail.
May we realize that they live not for us alone but for themselves
and for thee, and that they love the sweetness of
life.”
(3) Reading for school-aged children to adults.
In today’s reading, we come across the word “dominion” – a word that
may sound very heavy-handed, and maybe even like permission to do harm to all of
the Creator’s beautiful and awesome work.
In actuality, this is not the case. In
Hebrew, the word “to have dominion,” radah,
is a special word that we only find in connection to kings.
In the Hebrew Bible, God is often compared to a king – a king who
exercises dominion by blessing people and all creation with mercy and
compassion, not ruthlessness. Other
human kings, in the Hebrew Bible, are seen as good when they mirror God’s
mercy and compassion, and especially when they protect the weakest in the land.
Kings are sharply criticized (especially by the prophets) when they
oppress others (humans, the land, etc.) and stop acting in ways that mirror the
nature of God.
In Gen. 1:26-28, God gives all humans the role of “dominion” within creation. With this special role, we too are to mirror God in giving untiring compassion and mercy to all of God’s creation, especially those parts of creation that are most in need of care.
(4) Reading for older children to adults.
(From Calvin DeWitt, Earth-Wise: A Biblical Response to Environmental
Issues, Grand Rapids, MI: CRC Publications, 1994, p. 44)
“...while we are expected to enjoy creation, and while we are expected
to partake of creation’s fruit, we may not destroy the fruitfulness upon
which creation’s fullness depends. We must, with Noah, save the species
whose interactions with each other, and with land and water, form the fabric
of the biosphere.”
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,
As the sun, moon, and stars shine brightly,
As fish and birds play in the water and the air,
And the deer drink from living waters,
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.