The Fifth Day

The fifth day was a noisy day.  It was a messy day.  Creatures and critters show up on the dry land and in the waters.  From the moving oceans come "great sea monsters and every living creature that moves" (Genesis 1:21) and in the sky above could be seen, "every winged bird of every kind." (Genesis 1:21).  Prior to the advent of this fifth day, the sounds of the earth were those caused by the moving waters and the wind stirring across the dry land.  By the time of the evening of the fifth day, the near silence of the creation was broken by the chirping and whistling of birds and the roaring bellows of great sea monsters.  

To read and meditate on the words of the fifth day brings to mind one of the creation based hymns of the church.  It was written in 1848 by Cecil Frances Alexander and is still found in some of our hymnals.  The refrain has us singing those familiar words, "All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful; the Lord God made them all."  The inspiration for the hymn comes from the first chapter of Genesis, particularly the 31st verse which reads, "God saw everything He had made, and indeed , it was very good."  Both the roaring monsters of the sea and the sweet singing birds of the air bear the imprint of the holy hands of the Creator.   

The creation in which our life is centered is truly an amazing thing.  It is at times noisy with what seems to be chaos and there are other times when it seems messy and confusing with those things and creatures which threaten us.  We sometimes wonder what God must have been thinking to create as He did.  There are certainly things about the creation which are confusing and perplexing, but as the song says and the Scripture affirms, it is His.  He is the One who has brought it into being and nothing He does or allows is without purpose.  As long as we breathe this earth's air, we shall walk in the mystery He is unfolding through the creative process.