Bereishit - "In the Beginning"

Bereishit - "In the Beginning"
Torah: Genesis 1:1-6:8, Haftarah: Isaiah 42:5-43:10,
B'rit Chadashah: Revelation 22:6-21

Today's Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:19

Bereishit (or B'Reisheet) means "in the beginning." Today's reading looks at the first week of creation. Genesis 1:2 states that the earth was "formless and void." My translation has a note that also translates this as "a waste, emptiness." Imagine...a lonely wasteland, void of light, form and beauty. G-d looked at this dark, barren, formless planet and chose this as the very spot to establish His glorious creation.

He approached this creation in an orderly fashion, starting with light and darkness, then moving on to skies, earth and seas. Once the larger elements were brought into being, the Master Artist began on the details: adding plants, animals and the culmination of His creation - humans. This brief overview doesn't even come close to doing justice to the wonder of this miracle. One of the most beautiful and vivid descriptions of the creation account I've ever read comes from C.S. Lewis' Narnia series. In The Magician's Nephew, he pictures Aslan, the lion, pacing to and fro on a lonely land, singing its details into being. As the lion sings his new song, every created thing ripples out from him on the music; each strain, like each new detail, more achingly beautiful than the last. And as all things are created, they are proclaimed "good" and in the end, "very good."

What an amazing thought! The Most High G-d, a being more majestic and holy than any of us could ever conceive, looked down on a barren wasteland and chose to fill it with beauty and abundance and make it "very good." And is that so different from what he still does today? He looks down at us - small, inconsequential and depraved beings that we are, and He sees potential. He looks at us and longs to redeem us, to restore us to the glory of His original creation.

In the beginning, G-d created us and loved us and gave us all the gifts of His bounty and His rest in Shabbat. Did human beings then recognize the gifts they had been given with an attitude of thankfulness and reverence? Did they treat His beautiful creation like it was "good" as had been proclaimed by G-d himself? Perhaps more importantly, do we recognize the gifts He bestows on us today? Are we thankful for His redemption, His sanctifying acts, His blessings in our lives?

My prayer today is that I would have an attitude of reverence toward the G-d of creation. May I admire the beauty and artistry of His creation with a spirit of gratitude. May I never forget that, just as He did in creation, He looked down at this sad, pitiful creature that I am and chose to redeem me. He has blessed me abundantly and He is not content that I should be stagnant, but continues to stretch me and grow me into the person He designed me to be, that I might be proclaimed "very good." For this reason I want to strive for a heart of thankfulness in all seasons of life.

Tomorrow: Genesis 2:20-4:18