Thanksgiving for Creation

 

Thanksgiving for Creation

 A pediatric surgeon Bernie Siegel (b. 1932) said, “God wants us to know that life is a series of beginnings, not endings.  Just as graduations are not terminations, but commencements.  Creation is an ongoing process, and when we create a perfect world where love and compassion are shared by all, suffering will cease.”  Inevitably, Siegel was putting his trust in mankind to create a perfect world.  But our world is broken because of sin.  Christians believe it will only be transformed when Jesus Christ comes again.  This has been alluded to time and time again in the New Testament.

 How should people live in this world?  They have to use their imagination and ask God to guide them. George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), an Irish playwright and critic wrote, “Imagination is the beginning of creation.  You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.”  Believers come to know God by meditating on his Word.  They are touched by his divinity, and realize they should seek forgiveness.

 People’s Perception

 An actor and producer James Cromwell (b. 1940) said, “Often we are recreating what we think we’re supposed to be as human beings.  What we’ve been told we’re supposed to be, instead of who we authentically are.  The key about creation of full self-expression is to be authentically who you are, to project that.”  This gift comes by faith.  With knowledge all will walk in godly ways by doing what’s right. 

 Wise men and women have pondered the role of nature in God’s creative process.  Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936), an Italian dramatist and novelist wrote, “Nature uses human imagination to lift her work of creation to even higher levels.”  The beautiful displays of trees, mountains, and streams around us reflect on God’s grandiose nature.  People’s minds and hearts leap upward to encounter God’s gracious blessings.

 Testament of Life

 Nevertheless, life is such a powerful statement of God’s gifts.  An attorney and Freemason Albert Pike (1809–1891) said, “One man is equivalent to all Creation.  One man is a World in miniature.”  It’s wise to view this phenomenon in its full reality.  Scripture reveals humankind was in his image and is spiritually like God.

 How could mankind make a difference in the world?  There could be some uncertainty about their life’s mission.  A French poet and novelist Victor Hugo (1802–1885) wrote, “One is not idle because one is absorbed.  There is both visible and invisible labor.  To contemplate is to toil, to think is to do.  The crossed arms work, the clasped hands act.  The eyes upturned to Heaven are an act of creation.”  It’s good to remember that everyone is different.  How could it be determined what’s best?  How do people contemplate their love of nature?  Contemplative meditation is necessary for justice, wholeness, and peace in our world.

How should humankind look at creation?  Who is ultimately responsible in this world?  Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869–1942), a second president of the incorporated Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania said, “Jehovah created the earth and therefore it is his by right of creation.”  Every aspect of life that exists is God’s gift to us.  He controls everything, and is the greatest source behind all living, and non-living things.  People should always give thanks for his creation.