Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

Belle Du Jour, Luis Bunuel

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FRIDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2010

Belle Du Jour, Luis Bunuel


It was tres bizarre, as the French would say.


Catherine Deneuve played Severine, the beautiful and frigid wife of an adoring surgeon. (I have read that frigidity in far more common among strikingly beautiful women).


Bunuel cuts continuously between Catherine’s real life and her vivid (and violent and masochistic) fantasies. These turn her on, whereas her conventional life with the adoring and gentle Pierre, who is incredibly understanding and patient does not.


She hears of a friend who works part-time in a brothel, and then– though the lavish interiors tell us that she definitely belongs to the upper upper-middle class– volunteers to do so herself.


She find sexual fulfillment, even ecstatic addiction in the fulfillment of her masochistic impulses in paid-for, often weird sex, and begins to unwind with Pierre.


One of her customers develops a possessive adoration for her. He shoots Pierre, who survives, paralyzed, blinded, dumb, listless. Severine tenderly nurses him.


Finally, a friend tells Pierre the truth about Severine to release him from the guilt of being a burden to his innocent wife.


In the film’s puzzling conclusion, we first see that the telling kills Pierre. Then however, we hear the carriage bells which signal Severine’s drift into sexual fantasy, but the carriage is empty.


Has she given up her vivid life of sexual fantasy, as women often do, to accept reality? Or does the ending signify that the whole thing was a fantasy. 


A very annoying ending.


Deveuve is absolutely gorgeous (dress by Yves Saint Laurent) as a cool, untouchable ice-maiden, and the sets are incredibly lavish and beautiful. An absorbing film–though marred by its conclusion.



Proverbs 1, 1-6, Day 2. Jan 2nd

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 1 The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
 2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
   for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
   doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
   knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
   and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
   the sayings and riddles of the wise.
And this is what the Proverbs are for:
For gaining wisdom and insight
And prudence for the simple-hearted
Learning what is right and just and fair
Giving knowledge and discretion to the young
Helping the wise become wiser
And the discerning receive guidance
I.e. They are for everyone, the simple, the wise, the young, the learned.
Lord, bless my reading of them.

The One who is Blessed: Psalm 1,Day 1. Jan 1st

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The One who is Blessed

Psalm 1
 1 Blessed is the one
   who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take 
Wow! This is a pretty intense and meaty 6 sentences. I like it because I have always wanted God’s blessing, and here is a description of what that looks like.
The one who is blessed is one who does not do what the wicked do. You may land up more righteous than most, even goody-goody, but your reward will be the blessing of the Lord, which, after all, is what you really want.

or sit in the company of mockers, 
He has nothing to do with mocking, or such nastiness. There is something diabolical about mocking because it undermines your opponent’s dignity. 
Because when you mock you do not say what you really mean, which is a trait of the speech of God.

2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
   and who meditates on his law day and night. 
The one who is blessed delights in God’s word, and meditates on it continually.
As our hearts and actions are shaped by the objects of our thoughts and meditation, so too our destiny is shaped by the objects of our thought and meditation.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, 
The person rooted in God’s word will be as rooted and reliable and unshakeable as one planted by ever-fresh streams of water.
And God’s word will be for him these streams of living water

which yields its fruit in season 
And the season of ripeness for individuals does not follow natural laws. In the right season according to God’s timetable, the one rooted in God’s word will bear fruit.

and whose leaf does not wither— 
Because it draws nourishment from God’s streams of living water, God’s law, and God’s word.
The fruit befits the roots,

whatever they do prospers.
And this is another mark of the one rooted in God’s word, who does what he hears from God. Whatever he does, prospers.
I think of Samuel’s words to Saul 1 Sam 10:6 The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

 4 Not so the wicked!
   They are like chaff
 which the wind blows away
Impermanence and transitoriness, fickleness and shadows of changing, marks the ways of the wicked, in contrast to the rooted stability of the righteous.
The wicked are impermanent and transitory
They are best ignored
Sooner or later, in this life or the next
The wind will blow them away.

  5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
 nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
 God watches over those who seek to do the right thing.
But the way of the wicked is a moral downward spiral,
Whether visible to the eye or not.
It will end as all downward spirals too.

Matthew 1–Matthew 2:12, Day 2. Jan 2nd

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MATTHEW 1
 1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
   Isaac the father of Jacob,
   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
   Perez the father of Hezron,
   Hezron the father of Ram,
 4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
   Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
   Nahshon the father of Salmon,
 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
   Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
   Obed the father of Jesse,
 6 and Jesse the father of King David.
   David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
   Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
   Abijah the father of Asa,
 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
   Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
   Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
   Jotham the father of Ahaz,
   Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
   Manasseh the father of Amon,
   Amon the father of Josiah,
 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
 12 After the exile to Babylon:
   Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
   Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
   Abihud the father of Eliakim,
   Eliakim the father of Azor,
 14 Azor the father of Zadok,
   Zadok the father of Akim,
   Akim the father of Elihud,
 15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
   Eleazar the father of Matthan,
   Matthan the father of Jacob,
 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Hmm. I like this—the ones he chose. His ancestors: Kings and shepherds. Good kings and bad ones. The most famous men of Israel, and the ones who are only remembered as a name on a genealogical record.
And these are the ones good enough to be his ancestors: Jacob, liar, swindler, manipulator and deceiver, WHO SEES GOD; Judah, promiscuous, a liar and deceiver, who colludes in the attempted murder of Joseph; Tamar who tricked her father-in-law; Rahab, prostitute; Jesse, father with favourites; David, not above adultery and murder; Solomon, most uxorious and lustful of kings, and then from 14 no-name generations, comes the Messiah.
 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
Joseph wanted to do the right thing but kindly. He was a mixture of righteousness and gentleness. How the world needs Josephs!

  20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
And let us then never underestimate the sweetness and wisdom of dreams. Much like “speaking in tongues,” they are a way in which God can break through to our unconscious mind.

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid
The great words which angels always speak, “Do not be afraid.”

If I am doing something purely out of fear, it is then, for me, almost a reason to examine it more closely, and see whether I should do it. Fear has nothing to do with the omnipotent God, for whom all things are possible

 to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 

What is conceived was of the Holy Spirit, and yet it came mixed with scandal, disgrace, sorrow and suffering.
Your words or actions might be criticized, mocked, scorned or ridiculed. However that does not necessarily mean that they are not from the Holy Spirit.

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

And that is the sweetest of promises—sanctification, progressive sanctification. The promise that we shall be progressively delivered from the power of sin in this life.

And that in God’s sight, we are now his toddlers, and he no more holds our sins against us forever, than we hold our toddler’s tears and tantrums when they are too tired to sleep against them.

 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Immanuel, God with us, born out of the sheerest impossibilities, a virgin conceiving.

Immanuel, God with us. Wonderful thought. What more do we need? Let me never forget that you are with me, Lord. Because if you are with me what have I to fear?

Lord, you are with me, whether I am popular or lonely, whether I make loads of friends or lose them, when I remember you, and when I forget you. Thank you.

 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 2
 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

God reveals himself to all sort of people, and in all sorts of ways—through dreams, through visions, though an inner voice, through the wise men from the east who have seen his star.
Not everything from the East is necessarily of the occult. Yoga for instance, has been a blessing to my father, whom had excellent mental and physical health until he died at 89, and to me, who has only taken it up 2 years ago.

 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
A new thing, a new King, a new centre of power.
And what is the reaction of King Herod, and all Jerusalem with him. He was threatened, disturbed.

. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied,
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but few knew that, since he grew up in Nazareth. We need to be aware of the possible width of interpretations of prophetic words, whether in Scripture, or spoken to us by others, or heard in the stillness of our own spirit.

 “for this is what the prophet has written:
 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
   who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

The mark of a leader after God’s own heart—He shepherds his people. He is not am empire-builder, not a visionary, not absorbed in tangential activities. He loves people, and shepherds them.

 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

Would you have believed Herod? I would. I would have been impressed. Give me wisdom, Lord, to know when to believe, and when to doubt.

It is always safer not to take people’s words at face-value but to watch and pray to see if everything adds up.

 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

Never underestimate guidance.
Lord, in my undertakings, give me stars. Let me see them as they go ahead of me, and see them when they stop over the place where Jesus lies.

 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 
The normal human reaction to the revelation of God.

11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The instinctive response of worship is to give. We give our treasures. We give ourselves.

 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Dreams again. How they speak to us!
 Speak sweetly to me, Lord, in my dreams.
And warn my heart of dangers my conscious mind can’t see.
Amen.

Proverbs 1, 1-6, Day 2. Jan 2nd

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 1 The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

 2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
   for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
   doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
   knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
   and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
   the sayings and riddles of the wise.

And this is what the Proverbs are for:

For gaining wisdom and insight

And prudence for the simple-hearted

Learning what is right and just and fair

Giving knowledge and discretion to the young

Helping the wise become wiser

And the discerning receive guidance

I.e. They are for everyone, the simple, the wise, the young, the learned.

Lord, bless my reading of them.

The One who is Blessed: Psalm 1,Day 1. Jan 1st

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The One who is Blessed

Psalm 1

 1 Blessed is the one
   who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take 

Wow! This is a pretty intense and meaty 6 sentences. I like it because I have always wanted God’s blessing, and here is a description of what that looks like.

The one who is blessed is one who does not do what the wicked do. You may land up more righteous than most, even goody-goody, but your reward will be the blessing of the Lord, which, after all, is what you really want.


or sit in the company of mockers, 

He has nothing to do with mocking, or such nastiness. There is something diabolical about mocking because it undermines your opponent’s dignity. 

Because when you mock you do not say what you really mean, which is a trait of the speech of God.


2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
   and who meditates on his law day and night. 

The one who is blessed delights in God’s word, and meditates on it continually.

As our hearts and actions are shaped by the objects of our thoughts and meditation, so too our destiny is shaped by the objects of our thought and meditation.


3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, 

The person rooted in God’s word will be as rooted and reliable and unshakeable as one planted by ever-fresh streams of water.

And God’s word will be for him these streams of living water


which yields its fruit in season 

And the season of ripeness for individuals does not follow natural laws. In the right season according to God’s timetable, the one rooted in God’s word will bear fruit.


and whose leaf does not wither— 

Because it draws nourishment from God’s streams of living water, God’s law, and God’s word.
The fruit befits the roots,


whatever they do prospers.

And this is another mark of the one rooted in God’s word, who does what he hears from God. Whatever he does, prospers.

I think of Samuel’s words to Saul 1 Sam 10:6 The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.


 4 Not so the wicked!
   They are like chaff

 which the wind blows away

Impermanence and transitoriness, fickleness and shadows of changing, marks the ways of the wicked, in contrast to the rooted stability of the righteous.

The wicked are impermanent and transitory

They are best ignored

Sooner or later, in this life or the next

The wind will blow them away.


  5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
 nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

 God watches over those who seek to do the right thing.

But the way of the wicked is a moral downward spiral,

Whether visible to the eye or not.

It will end as all downward spirals too.

Matthew 1–Matthew 2:12, Day 2. Jan 2nd

By

MATTHEW 1

 1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
   Isaac the father of Jacob,
   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
   Perez the father of Hezron,
   Hezron the father of Ram,
 4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
   Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
   Nahshon the father of Salmon,
 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
   Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
   Obed the father of Jesse,
 6 and Jesse the father of King David.

   David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
   Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
   Abijah the father of Asa,
 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
   Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
   Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
   Jotham the father of Ahaz,
   Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
   Manasseh the father of Amon,
   Amon the father of Josiah,
 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

 12 After the exile to Babylon:
   Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
   Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
   Abihud the father of Eliakim,
   Eliakim the father of Azor,
 14 Azor the father of Zadok,
   Zadok the father of Akim,
   Akim the father of Elihud,
 15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
   Eleazar the father of Matthan,
   Matthan the father of Jacob,
 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Hmm. I like this—the ones he chose. His ancestors: Kings and shepherds. Good kings and bad ones. The most famous men of Israel, and the ones who are only remembered as a name on a genealogical record.

And these are the ones good enough to be his ancestors: Jacob, liar, swindler, manipulator and deceiver, WHO SEES GOD; Judah, promiscuous, a liar and deceiver, who colludes in the attempted murder of Joseph; Tamar who tricked her father-in-law; Rahab, prostitute; Jesse, father with favourites; David, not above adultery and murder; Solomon, most uxorious and lustful of kings, and then from 14 no-name generations, comes the Messiah.

 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Joseph wanted to do the right thing but kindly. He was a mixture of righteousness and gentleness. How the world needs Josephs!

  20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,

And let us then never underestimate the sweetness and wisdom of dreams. Much like “speaking in tongues,” they are a way in which God can break through to our unconscious mind.

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid

The great words which angels always speak, “Do not be afraid.”

If I am doing something purely out of fear, it is then, for me, almost a reason to examine it more closely, and see whether I should do it. Fear has nothing to do with the omnipotent God, for whom all things are possible

 to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 

What is conceived was of the Holy Spirit, and yet it came mixed with scandal, disgrace, sorrow and suffering.

Your words or actions might be criticized, mocked, scorned or ridiculed. However that does not necessarily mean that they are not from the Holy Spirit.

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,because he will save his people from their sins.”

And that is the sweetest of promises—sanctification, progressive sanctification. The promise that we shall be progressively delivered from the power of sin in this life.

And that in God’s sight, we are now his toddlers, and he no more holds our sins against us forever, than we hold our toddler’s tears and tantrums when they are too tired to sleep against them.

 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).

Immanuel, God with us, born out of the sheerest impossibilities, a virgin conceiving.

Immanuel, God with us. Wonderful thought. What more do we need? Let me never forget that you are with me, Lord. Because if you are with me what have I to fear?

Lord, you are with me, whether I am popular or lonely, whether I make loads of friends or lose them, when I remember you, and when I forget you. Thank you.



 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 2

 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

God reveals himself to all sort of people, and in all sorts of ways—through dreams, through visions, though an inner voice, through the wise men from the east who have seen his star.

Not everything from the East is necessarily of the occult. Yoga for instance, has been a blessing to my father, whom had excellent mental and physical health until he died at 89, and to me, who has only taken it up 2 years ago.



 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

A new thing, a new King, a new centre of power.

And what is the reaction of King Herod, and all Jerusalem with him. He was threatened, disturbed.



. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied,

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but few knew that, since he grew up in Nazareth. We need to be aware of the possible width of interpretations of prophetic words, whether in Scripture, or spoken to us by others, or heard in the stillness of our own spirit.

 “for this is what the prophet has written:

 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
   who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

The mark of a leader after God’s own heart—He shepherds his people. He is not am empire-builder, not a visionary, not absorbed in tangential activities. He loves people, and shepherds them.

 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

Would you have believed Herod? I would. I would have been impressed. Give me wisdom, Lord, to know when to believe, and when to doubt.



It is always safer not to take people’s words at face-value but to watch and pray to see if everything adds up.



 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

Never underestimate guidance.

Lord, in my undertakings, give me stars. Let me see them as they go ahead of me, and see them when they stop over the place where Jesus lies.

 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 

The normal human reaction to the revelation of God.

11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The instinctive response of worship is to give. We give our treasures. We give ourselves.

 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Dreams again. How they speak to us!

 Speak sweetly to me, Lord, in my dreams.

And warn my heart of dangers my conscious mind can’t see.

Amen.

Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, Day 1. Jan Ist

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Genesis 1

The Beginning
 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
It sounds like the creative process, doesn’t it? You have nothing, everything is formless and empty and covered by darkness. There is but one thing in your favour.
The Spirit of God hovering over you.
So a reminder as we start this year, perhaps feeling empty and dark and uncertain: God’s Spirit hovers longingly over you.
Come Sweet Spirit fill us.

 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 

It’s amazing–what can happen at the word of God. Light comes from darkness. 
Lord, when you speak, things happen. Just like that.You say it, and it is done. Things can change in a moment, when you say the word
You know where I need light, Lord. Speak the word. Speak creativity over me.

4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 
And it is good, your light.
Help me Lord this year to make the most of the hours of daylight, your lovely light. Help me to rise with the sun, and to sleep early and well.
Sin, interestingly, is known by Paul as the deeds of darkness.

5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
 6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
    11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
Look at the immense creativity and activity of God. And, we as Christians, and as human being, share God’s nature.
The logical order of creation. Food for animals and humans—even before they are created! The providence of God in action!


 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
Order, rhythms, are built into creation. No wonder part of our very natures crave order, predictability, routines, sacred times and days and years, the days governed, the night governed. 

 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
Beauty, creativity, abundance, this is so part of God’s very nature. Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with God’s very nature—creativity, ideas teeming, flying, living, fruitful and increasing.

 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
    26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
 27 So God created mankind in his own image,
   in the image of God he created them;
   male and female he created them.

And that is why we need despair of no man. Because we are made of mud and the breath of God. Made in the image of God!! That is why human goodness will always surprise us.

And so it is never absolutely futile to appeal to someone’s better nature. For we all have it.

And when all appeals to someone’s better nature fail, there is yet one supreme court, prayer, which might move God to file an appeal on your behalf.

Because we are made in the image of God, no one is so impervious to the movement of God that prayer cannot change him or her.

 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 

Interesting—the animals were vegetarian, people were vegetarian. We lived without suffering being involved in our food.
I still think that the best diet might be one which stays as close to vegetarianism and fruitarianism as possible, though I find it hard to do without meat.  So I stick to free-range, organic meat. If I have to eat animals, I want at least to ensure that they have suffered as little as possible in the process.
    31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Genesis 2
 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
Completed: That’s God. What he begins, he finishes. How beautiful are the last words of Jesus on the Cross: It is finished. The blessed relief of those words.
He similarly tells his father, “I have completed the work you have given me to do.
Both Roy and I have pretty mercurial minds, our interests shift, new projects claim our attention. We are both trying to train ourselves to finish what we have started (provided it is worth finishing) before turning our attention to fresh fields and pastures new.
in all their vast array
That’s God for you. Plenitude, abundance. Variety and lots of it. The God of generosity. He’s a great God, and worth serving.

 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

The seventh day, is built into creation, in lunar months, which are roughly 28 days, and in the moon itself which enters into a new phase every 7 days–waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, waning gibbous, waning crescent.
One of the best flippant tags I have come across on Sabbath observance is “To get the best results, obey the manufactor’s instructions.” I burn out before the end of the week if I have either work or stress on Sundays, and conversely, thoroughly resting, even catching up on sleep, keeps me fresh and green through the week. 


Adam and Eve
 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 
That’s God for you—life, abundance, it cannot help but spring up.

 Then the LORD God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
And there in a sentence is a complete understanding of human beings—a mixture of dust and clay—fallibility, impermanence, fickleness,  dirt,  we are friable, mouldable, have an immense capacity for ugliness, we are nothing.
We are everything—for God has breathed into us–the breath of God, beauty, permanence, inspiration, loveliness, creative abilities
All men are capable of infinite goodness, kindness and decency—and infinite cruelty and sadism,
Mud and the breath of God. That is what we are.

 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden;
I think it charming that one of God’s first activities was to plant a garden.
Thought and work, the sacred combination.
God thought things into being. But he also chose to work physically for the healthy, happy feeling of sweat and fatigue on brow. He could have thought that garden into being, as today, I could afford to hire a gardener and be an imagineer rather than a gardener. But that would be boring. We would rather work the ground ourselves. So with the ability to think infinite wealth into being, God still chose to labour–for the joy of work.

and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.
The perfection of art, things both beautiful and useful. Pleasing to the senses, and good for the body.
Isn’t that still our desideratum for food—that it should be attractive and delicious.

In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
 10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 
Man’s first task—to make the earth even more fruitful. And to take care of the earth.

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
There are boundaries and prohibitions around any decent life. Without them, nothing gets done. And so one boundary, just one was placed for man—you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
It is not good for the man to be alone. A stark, bare uncompromising statement.
So it is not good for us to accept aloneness. It is important for us to seek friendship, even community if it can be found.
I see friendship as a web of concentric circles around the secret heart of an individual. When you are first getting to know someone else they are somewhere on the outermost circles, and they and you gradually move closer to each other’s true hearts. So friendship is a process one needs to be patient with.

 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
Naming seems to be an essential function of the human mind, the way we take in and absorb reality. In a sense we possess or become friends with something once we know its name.
 I have lived in three continents for at least 10 years each. On each, once I knew the names of the birds, plants, trees and butterflies and foods, I began to feel more at home.

   But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
Stark sad words.

 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
 23 The man said,
   “This is now bone of my bones
   and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
   for she was taken out of man.”
 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
I have been married for 21 years; this is a beautiful description of the bonding in marriage.
Though bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh should really be applied to one’s children, it is interestingly applied to one’s spouse—so deep is the knitting in marriage.
 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
The happiness of marriage—a private kingdom of total acceptance and relaxation.