Highlights, Underlines, & Notes #1

Want to know more about this post series? Click HERE for the intro

Underlined:

In the beginning, God

(Genesis 1:1, incomplete)

There is more to that verse, but that is all I underlined. I don't remember when I made that mark, only that it still speaks to me. 

"In the beginning, God" 

There is no period, and I won't add one. It comes with its own timpani-like resonance. There was a beginning, and God was IN it.

Let's put this in more finite, tangible terms, shall we, and see how it explodes into God's Grandeur:

We all have a beginning. I was the second child born to my family, due on Thanksgiving, but I didn't arrive until December 15th--and then only by Cesarean section, which was fairly major surgery in 1972. That is my beginning, but if circumstances and history had not been lined up correctly by a divine hand who cared immensely for his creation, I wouldn't be here now. 

Why am I? 

Ah, the universal question. "Why am I here?"

Here's the answer, as best I see it:

In the beginning, even before the first spark of Earth was formed, God knew that sin would enter this world and soil his perfection. He knew that, as a consequence of that sin, womankind would struggle throughout the centuries, in various ways, to bring forth children into this fallen world. Some mothers would struggle so much that their babies wouldn't even be able to exit the womb in the way he originally designed. 

In the beginning, God also knew that thousands of years later, in a year we would label 1972, one particular mother (mine) would need medical intervention in order for us both to survive her pregnancy. So, at some point during the time in history celebrating the Roman Empire, God loved me enough to give an added bit of knowledge, skill, and risk-taking adventurousness to Mama Caesar's Family Physician. 

Yes, c-sections have been around for a long time. And yes, he had me in mind when he allowed the first one to be successfully completed. Perhaps you, as well. At the first c-section: God. At the ones that trained centuries of doctors and surgeons to successfully complete the procedure: God. And at the one which culminated in my first cry: God.

In the beginning, God

The beginning, my beginning, your beginning.

"Beginning" is a pretty big concept, isn't it? It's bigger than a birthday or a date on the calendar; it's the reference point for all-action-that-follows. It's the nothing-before-now point where everything resting in the glare of potential energy becomes a sense of kinetic hope.

It's a pretty big deal, the beginning. And God is IN it. 

In. It.

As an author, I know how much I struggle over the first line of every book. This one is perfection, before the sentence is even finished. "In the beginning, God" The very structure of the seemingly dependent clause is a big picture statement before the verb that follows is even given breath.

In the beginning, in my beginning, in your beginning, God. I can't look at those first four words of the Holy Bible and not see the personal nature of a divine creator. And if "in the beginning, God"-- if, on that gargantuan canvas of hope, he thought to paint a pixel of me, then how can I ignore worshiping him in the Now?

God, your knowledge and presence are vastly greater than my mind can ever hope to comprehend. Please forgive my narrow vision and inject your life into the dryness of my shale-like heart. For love of you and for your glory, may I read, write, pray, and live. Amen.

Introducing: Highlights, Underlines, & Notes: A Post Series

My trusty old NIV Bible

When I was growing up, my family did not darken the door of a church very often, but I attended a lot of Vacation Bible School programs on my own. For my formative years, I lugged the family Bible, a Good News Translation with odd stick-figure pictures, to the various Methodist, Lutheran, and Mennonite Sunday School classrooms and VBS programs I attended, while living in the small town of Kalona, Iowa. Finally frustrated with trying to "follow along" at one particular VBS that used a different translation of scripture, I finally convinced my mom to take me to the local Christian bookstore. There, the proprietor (a rather gruff, elderly Mennonite woman named Katie Yoder) helped me pick out a Bible of my very own. I took it home and wrote my name in it when I was 13-1/2 years + 3 days old. 

"Well, that's rather precise," you say with a slight eye roll.

Indeed. But you can't compliment my memory for that precision, because... I cheated. On the inside of the front cover of the aforementioned and above-pictured Bible, the date (June 18, 1986) is written in my youthful handwriting, right under my maiden name (I later added my married name further down the page in case it got lost) and "age 13 1/2" (the half was very important all those years ago!)

It's brown, it's old, and the spine is pretty loosey-goosey, but although I own many other Bibles in many versions, it's the one I'm most likely to turn to when I'm at home. This favorite book is an NIV Bible, published by Zondervan Bible Publishers of Grand Rapids Michigan, and it's been highlighted, underlined, notated, spilled on, sticky-noted, dropped, shoved in bags, and otherwise abused over the past 27ish years. But it's also been cried upon, rejoiced over, and the occasional precious note from one of my kids can be found tucked in here or there. 

The other night, as I was flipping through its thin, worn, and colorful pages, I had an idea:

INTRODUCING: A NEW POST SERIES

As in impetus to myself to "dig deeper", I will use this post series to go through my old Bible mark by mark, starting in Genesis and working through Revelation. I will study these highlights, underlines, and margin notes--some from more recent years, some made in my youth--and I will challenge myself, through this reading, musing, and reflecting, to recapture a sense of passion for my Creator, my Savior, and my faith; a passion that, sadly, has become too much of a hit-or-miss, depends-on-the-day sort of energy as I "mature." 

This series of posts will take a while. There are 27 years of markings in this Bible, after all! But I will try to pause and linger on at least one each week. I won't promise polished prose or wisdom, but I will do my best to approach these markings with honesty and openness. 

Will you join me?