Grand Junction, Colorado
Genesis 1:6-8
God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of
the waters;
separate water from water!”
God made the sky.
He separated the water under sky
from the water above the sky.
And there it was:
he named sky the Heavens;
It was evening, it was morning
— The Message
Matthew 1:3
Some Pharisees and Sadducees
badgered him again, pressing him to
prove himself to them. He told them,
“You have a saying that goes,
‘Red
sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky
at morning, sailors take warning.’
You find it easy enough to forecast
the weather—why can’t you read the
signs of the times?
— The Message
This desert journey meant that I was alone for thousands of miles. Much of
which was without cell phone or internet service, but I had a clear view of
the endlessly seeming sky. As I traveled, different memories tumbled over
each other. Some burst through in the middle of well-organized and wellpracticed internal narratives. There were family stories and painful
memories I thought I had resolved decades ago. There were flashes of
insights and tidal waves of doubt, moments of clarity and acceptance. Yet,
the vast desert sky seemed willing to hold it all together as it touched the
ground in all directions and tethered my thoughts to the here and now.
Grand Junction, Colorado
Occasionally, while I drove through the desert, I would have flashes of
seminary lectures that I thought were long forgotten. I was at one of the
Southern Baptist Seminaries during the 80’s, which was a difficult time to
be a woman and a Baptist, as well as, a wife and a mom. Therefore, I was
surprised that lessons I thought were simply a means of getting a degree
began to bubble up on the trip- lessons that were insightful and helpful in
thinking about God’s creation.
It was my Old Testament classes where I learned the most. Imagine my
surprise when as a student, I discovered that pretty much all that I knew
about those 39 books was found in Genesis. I struggled in Dr. Philbeck’s
class, but I learned a lot. I was reminded that the more things changed, the
more they stayed the same. I also had to acknowledge that no matter how
far we have come as human beings, we are always just trying to figure out
how this creation and life experiment works.
On a basic level, the sky is an expansive canopy that provides a place for
clouds to create art. Today, a great deal is known about the science of
clouds and what they mean as weather predictors. I grew up learning that
clouds were cumulus, stratus, and cirrus, but now the basic cloud
categories include ten types. Regardless of what we know scientifically,
the sky still surprises on a daily basis. We say that it looks like rain or
snow, based on the clouds. A red sky at night is good, but if it is red in the
morning, it is a warning. Jesus included that adage when He chastised the
Pharisees in Matthew 16.
I learned that the writers of the Old Testament had an understanding of
the sky that seems antiquated today. They believed the earth to be flat
and there was water below and above; therefore, the earth was
sandwiched between the water in an envelope of sorts. That belief was
based on the fact that if they dug deep enough, they found water, and
when it rained, it was because of leaks in the firmament. Given their
perspective and understanding, it made perfect sense to them.
As I drove through the desert, I could see how the Biblical writers
understood that worldview. The sky was vast and azure blue; at times it
looked like it burgeoned under the weight of water above. to believe that
we understand all that God has to teach is an arrogance born of false
pride. Our relationship with the Creator is a process that requires us to
stay vigilant in our unfolding relationship.
How we interact with God is not simply a one and done experience, or a
slide into home plate in time to get the pay-off experience. It is a journey
under the vastness of the sky with a variety of clouds that makes us stop
and stare in awe at the warnings and the wonders for all who live beneath
it.
Prayer:
For the Beauty of the earth, for the invitation to be on a continuous
journey with You and for Your ever revealing love for us written across the
expansive sky, we give you thanks, Oh God. Amen