Wonderful

Lectionary Readings for this week (where we're heading together on the SOTHblog each morning)

Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b (UMH 826)
Romans 8:14-17
John 14:8-17 (25-27)

We'll start this morning with Psalm 104 (The Message)

What a wildly wonderful world, God!

You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,
made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.

Oh, look—the deep, wide sea,
brimming with fish past counting,
sardines and sharks and salmon.

Ships plow those waters,
and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them.

All the creatures look expectantly to you
to give them their meals on time.
You come, and they gather around;
you open your hand and they eat from it.

If you turned your back,
they'd die in a minute—
Take back your Spirit and they die,
revert to original mud;
Send out your Spirit and they spring to life—
the whole countryside in bloom and blossom.

The glory of God—let it last forever!
Let God enjoy his creation!
He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake,
points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt.

Oh, let me sing to God all my life long,
sing hymns to my God as long as I live!

Oh, let my song please him;
I'm so pleased to be singing to God.

"He points a finger at the mountains and volcanoes erupt."

That's not really how it happens, is it?

We all learned in about 7th grade earth science (now I think they teach this in 3rd grade), that pressure builds up within a mountain because of geological forces and finally the lava explodes up into the air.

Don't get me wrong...I'm so thankful for science. It's saved my life many times. Virtually everything that I'll do today has been made easier, safer, and much more comfortable because of the scientific method and what human beings have been able to learn and achieve.

But there is a problem.

We may have lost our sense of wonder...and place.

Anybody out there have teenage kids?

I bet you know how smart they DON'T think you are.

They've managed to do a few things, to learn a few more new things...and then make the critical mistake of thinking they've got it all figured out. That, in fact, they know more than their parents.

I did it. You did it. We all did it. Of course, we were wrong.

I wonder if it's possible that humanity at this moment has a similar relationship to God?

Walk outside and take it all in. Find a tree, somewhere, and just really look at it. Study it closely. Understand all the processes that are at work in that tree, at that very moment.

We can describe the process of photosynthesis, but we can't really replicate it. We can manage the growth and hybridization of trees, but only God can make one.

We don't cause the sun to shine. Without rain, we know how difficult life can become.

Thousands of years after Psalm 104 was written...it's absolutely true: "if you turned your back, we'd die in a minute."

Folks, that means that today really is a gift.

"All the creatures look expectantly to you
to give them their meals on time.
You come, and they gather around;
you open your hand and they eat from it."

Amen.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

This vid is absolutely one of my favorites...what a great hymn of the church, and a brilliant example of how old and new can come together in a powerful way.