As Christians, we hold to the belief that God sent his breath over the void and created life out of nothingness. This first act of creation was the beginning of the God-Drama that we find ourselves in. The Spirit of God "impregnated" the waters and brought about new life. This is a simple doctrine that is held as being true by Jews and Christians of all stripes and colors.

Also, peculiarly to our faith, we believe that God again breathed his spirit into "the waters" and miraculously conceived God's own child, our Savior, Jesus Christ. This second great act of creation was the beginning of a redemption that would tear through space and time to gather all things back to their creator. This is held as being true by all Christians, as it is a central doctrine to our faith.

Now, this second creation has had particular ramifications throughout the church, especially in the West by the Romans. The fact that God intended within himself to once again breath out his Spirit in a special and unique way is rightly so something we do not take lightly. Mary, Mother of God, was gifted, by the Holy Spirit, to bear the long-awaited Messiah who would bring light back into the world and hope into the hearts of people everywhere. As a result, Mary has held a special place in Christian theology since our humble beginnings in small fishermen's shacks to towering cathedrals that bid our eyes to the heavens and the glories of God Almighty.

Now, onto my thought for the night.

If the result of this special "breathing" of God is an elevated respect for the bearer of redemption would not the first act of creation also need to hold some sort of unique and special significance? Of course, in theory, this is true. But in practice, where do we place our particular devotion to the sacred art of God, that is, all that exists? What disciplines have we taken up and explored for the furtherment of the doctrines of stewardship and creation? Of course, they are out there and are being practiced by many but as a whole, especially within our North American, predominately Conservative Evangelical context, this is barely touched on aside from the political platform of "Intelligent Design" and anti-global-warming rantings.

I think I am going to start recycling glass.

Got to start somewhere, yah?