Is Growth a Decision?
Eugene Peterson
Blessed are those who mourn Flash floods of tears, torrents of them, Erode cruel canyons, exposing Long forgotten strata of life Laid down in the peaceful decades: A badlands beauty. The same sun That decorates each day with colors From arroyos and mesas, also shows Every old scar and cut of lament. Weeping washes the wounds clean And leaves them to heal, which always Takes an age or two. No pain Is ugly in past tense. Under The Mercy every hurt is a fossil Link in the great chain of becoming. Pick and shovel prayers often Turn them up in valleys of death. Writer Annie Dillard is an exegete of creation in the same way John Calvin was an exegete of Holy Scripture. The passion and intelligence Calvin brought to Moses, Isaiah, and Paul, she brings to muskrats and mockingbirds. She reads the book of creation with the care and intensity of a skilled textual critic, probing and questioning, teasing out, with all the tools of mind and spirit at hand, the author's meaning. Calvin was not indifferent to creation. He frequently referred to the world around us as a theater of God's glory. He wrote of the Creator's dazzling performance in arranging the components of the cosmos. He was convinced of the wide-ranging theological significance of the doctrine of creation and knew how important the understanding of that doctrine was to protect against the gnosticism and Manichaeism that are everpresent threats to the integrity of the incarnation. Matter is real. Flesh is good. Without a firm rooting in creation, religion is always drifting off into some kind of pious sentimentalism or sophisticated intellectualism. The task of salvation is not to refine us into pure spirits so that we will not be cumbered with this too solid flesh. We are not angels, nor are ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 18,013 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
| 
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
