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Creation in Three Stages

Recently my friend and Franciscan, Dan Horan, published a piece on the anniversary of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, which means “Praise Be You.”  An encyclical is a global letter meant to address some topic of interest for worldwide Catholics.  In many cases it is also of interest to all of humanity.  The focus of this papal letter is the current ecological crisis.  In it, the Pope appealed to all of us to recognize and begin to deal with this issue.  It is not too late, but the clock is ticking!

I don’t want to get into all the things Dan says in this wonderful little essay.  But he did cite one sentence from a contemporary theologian, Elizabeth Johnson, which I would like to borrow and reflect in my own way.  Johnson is a St. Joseph sister who is retired from the faculty at Fordham University.  In 2014 she published a book, Ask the Beasts.  In that book she reflects on God as creator and the world as an expression of God’s creation.  Dan quotes this passage from her book.  “…[w]hile creation often gets pinned to the past beginning of things, and rightly so, it is a doctrine with unsuspected depths. Classical theology speaks of creation in three senses as creatio originalis, creatio continua, creatio nova, that is, original creation in the beginning, continuous creation in the present here and now, and new creation at the redeemed end-time.”

I never heard creation explained with these three facets.  Johnson posits an original creation, a continuing creation and a new creation.  That is a creative approach, which would be a pun intended if I were giving a speech!  Dan gives me some direction to think about this.  We know from the Genesis creation accounts that God “speaks” things into existence.  Repeatedly God says things and then things come to be.  Throughout the ages theologians have talked about the role of God’s Word.  Christians then make a big deal out of the fact that this Word of God becomes incarnate in Jesus, the one we call the Christ.

The first creation which Johnson identifies is the one most folks know.  This is the original creation, recounted in the Bible in Genesis.  God created the world and all that is include in the world.  This includes human beings which are present in both creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2.  It is at this point that most folks forget about creation or perhaps think creation is now complete.  Somehow the assumption is that once creation gets rolling, it just keeps on rolling.  But this is where I find Johnson’s approach so rich in possibilities.

She posits a second creation; one she calls continuing creation.  I find this very appealing, because it a way of thinking about evolution from the perspective of God.  God continues to create in the world via evolution.  Certainly, the way some want to talk about Intelligent Design fits here, but I don’t want to get into that kind of doctrinal detail.  Suffice it to say, continuing creation is the Spirit of God pervasively and perpetually at work creating anew.  This adds a freshness to the creative enterprise.  

Continuing creation is a nice way to think about our own human creativity.  Our creativity is an outgrowth or manifestation of the creative power always at work in the universe.  I like to link my creativity to the presence of the Spirit.  Of course, we all know that we can create perverse things.  Not everything we create can be declared to be good.  That is why we are not god!  As the old saying goes, “God don’t create junk.”

The third creation is an intriguing one.  It is the new creation.  Johnson gives us a big clue what she means in the quotation cited.  New creation is that which happened “at the redeemed end-time.”  Johnson envisions a time which ends.  The biblical witness also thinks in these terms.  The end of the last book of the New Testament, Revelation, talks about a new creation.  That text even puts it in terms of a new heaven and a new earth.  

Again, I don’t want to get into the details of what this end time might mean, but it is instructive to think about the whole creative thrust of the Spirit of God to be toward some culminating expression of creation.  Perhaps this will be the end time version of the garden of Eden.  I can imagine some kind of paradise.  I think it is probably what Jesus meant when he talked about the kingdom.  

Perhaps the kingdom is more a state of being than a particular place.  Perhaps the kingdom is more a way of living and relating than it is something radically different than our own world.  Instead, maybe it is our world being lived in a new way---rather like what Jesus proclaimed.  The new creation will be a stage of life where love predominates.  It is a time of peace and joy.  No more hunger, strife or sinning of any recognizable fashion.  And it is universal---everywhere and all the time.

Johnson, my friend Dan and I all believe this is possible, not because of human ingenuity, but because of God’s grace.  This grace is available always in the ongoing creative activity of the Spirit.  Those of us who sense it will open ourselves and become creative instruments of this creative movement.  If you are not sure what to do, look at the model Jesus offers.  Become counter-cultural.  Love instead of hate; forgive instead of hold grudges.  Share, don’t hoard.  

And give yourself away in service.  It’s called ministry and you don’t have to worry.  We are always being created and re-created.

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