A Marvellous Creation

One of the things which has resonated with my spirit in my growing awareness of Celtic spirituality is its earthiness.  It is full of references to water, earth, wind, and fire.  It touches the basics of life in such a way that dirty hands are seen as blessing and routine mundane work becomes a catalyst for prayers of blessing.  It is amazing how it brings the most common, most ordinary, most profane of things inside the realm of our spiritual life.

 

I thought about all of this yesterday as I marked another birthday.  As I thanked God for the blessing of seventy-one years, I remembered a Celtic prayer which dared to thank God for "the bed of my conception."  While it is unfortunately not always the case, it is a blessing to know our beginning was the result of love shared between two people who then lived to shape our lives for good.  And, what is true for all of us regardless of the circumstances of our conception and beginning is that God, the Creator, was present and a part of that moment of beginning.

 

The Word tells us that God knew us before our beginning and watched us as we were being shaped and formed in the womb of our mother.  It is a marvellous and wonderful thing this thing of creation.  The creation we see all around us is a testimony to the creative power of God.  It is truly astounding to behold.  Take a look in the mirror today and know once again the marvellous power of God.   And, know, too, that as surely as God has a plan for every tree which grows and every bird which sings, He has a plan for the one who is looking back at us in the mirror.