Lent


The Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land and blew life’s breath into his nostrils. The human came to life. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east and put there the human he had formed. ~ Genesis 2:7-8 (Common English Bible)

The Lord God took a handful of soil and made a man. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing. The Lord made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there. ~ Genesis 2:7-8 (Contemporary English Bible)

God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive - a living soul! Then God planted a garden in Eden in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it.~ Genesis 2:7-8

The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed. ~ Genesis 2:7-8 (New English Translations)

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ~ Genesis 2:7-8 (King James)

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ~ Genesis 2:7-8 (New Revised Standard Version)

You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of the dust.
You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of us.
All around. Hope is springing up from this old ground. Out of chaos life is being found.
In you. ~ "Beautiful Things" by Michael Gungor


In the beginning was chaos.

In the beginning was loneliness.

In the beginning God was creative.

In the beginning God made new things.

In the beginning, from dirt - dust, soil - came life.

In the beginning the first human bore the name "Adam" -   literally "Dirt being." Literally "Human."

Today, there is chaos. Maybe it is in you, maybe it is in the world around you. Maybe - likely - it is both.

Today there is loneliness: loneliness that is healed through community and relationship.

Today creativity abounds.

Today, God is making all things new. Even me. Even you.

Tomorrow - a bit of dust, a smudge that looks like dirt in the shape of a cross - will remind you of the life that is meant to be lived. It will remind you that from repentance comes healing. That from the death of sin comes new life.

In the beginning - and today, and tomorrow - we bear the name "Human." We bear the name "Dirt Being." We bear the name "Adam."

And we bear the name Forgiven Child of God.

Made new. Made beautiful. Made perfect.

Amen.
Here is a link to the song "Beautiful Things" by the band Gungor. Beautiful Things

 beginning tomorrow, throughout Lent I will be sharing the daily devotionals written by members of the Grace community and put together into a Devotional book called "Forgiven."

 My regular devotions will begin again on the Monday after Easter.







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