Evergreen
Finding and preserving what is good + noble + true
“I would have lost heart unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. Genesis 1:1-5 NKJV
God created. God called. God SAW that it was good. This is what you call the original labor of love. The first thing He did was give us that which is good and noble and true (Philippians 4:8). He knew that we would need light to see, so He turned it on. He distinguished light from dark, and in His sovereignty, He knew that what was to come. His final act in this part of the story? He created man in His image.
The first words spoken by God separated the darkness from light. I type these words early in the morning in my favorite spot outside, just as dawn is breaking. The autumn season is creeping towards the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year. There is more darkness than there is light. True both literally and after the last couple of years, it seems, figuratively too. As autumn is drawing to a close, the leaves have given us their every ounce of glory before falling to the ground, who is preparing itself to grow dormant in anticipation of winter. Still carrying their color, however, I see lining my back yard, the evergreen, creation’s reminder that there is still light even as the world feels increasingly dark.
Which begs the question. In the midst of a rapidly changing world, what remains evergreen? How are we to see it, and what can we do to preserve it and reflect it back to our Creator?
That’s what I will be exploring in this little corner of the world. Psalm 27:13 says, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.” We see better when we turn on the light. God knew we would need light to see. It was His first act of love.
With so much pulling for our attention in these increasingly confusing times, I don’t want to lose heart. My deepest desire is to live in such a way that I see the goodness of God in the land of the living, and maybe even be a co-creator of His goodness on earth as it is in heaven. If God, the creator of heaven and earth and everything in it is our trustworthy model, we can look to His example. He created, He called, and he saw that it was good.
One morning I was compelled to read the creation story, replacing the word “good” with the word “beautiful.” I was struck with the weight of His glory and reignited with a passion for paying attention to the beauty that surrounds us but that we so often miss. Beauty disrupts, heals, and restores. Beauty invites us into the presence of God and inspires us to put our hands to that which is good and noble and true in homes in our communities and our work.
I have created this space called Evergreen because I have a hunch that there are many of you, just like me, who long to see the goodness of God in the land of the living. I welcome you here and invite you to journey with me. We will create, we will call, we will see that it is good, and who knows, we just may shift the world around us.
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Attention is the beginning of devotion. - Mary Oliver
Love it!
This! “and maybe even be a co-creator of His goodness on earth as it is in heaven.” This is where my soul leaps inside of me! Yes, my friend! How can we be co-creators in this type of beauty!? I’m in! Proud of you!!