God, the Father of Creation!
Jane Denniston
October 17, 2024
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Psalm 67: 5 (NRSVA)
5
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
What does it mean to praise God? Is it just telling him we love him, that he is wonderful, full of grace and majesty? Is it just singing songs and writing poetry? Or are there other ways to praise God?
I am a creative person. I have always loved to sew and paint and try different crafts (sometimes, when I was a child, to the despair of my mother because of the mess I made). But my creativity is not just for my benefit and enjoyment, at least, I hope not. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing the pleasure that someone else gets from something I have made.
God is the first creator. His creativity is at the root of all creativity and we are made in his image and I believe that he gets pleasure out of our pleasure in his creativity. So, I wonder, can it be called praise to God when we use our gifts and our skills to enhance the lives of others? Are we praising God when we marvel, not just at a beautiful sunset, or the miracle of life, but at the result of someone else’s creativity? At an astonishing feat of engineering, for example, or the computing science which enriches every aspect of our lives. If the sun praises God by rising, and a bird by singing, or a flower by blooming, do we praise God just by living? Just by inhabiting this world and drawing pleasure from it? Do we praise God every time we draw breath? And if so, then all people praise God, by their very existence.
Prayer:
Creator God, thank you for your creativity
which inhabits every aspect of the world around us
and the world within us.
Help us to recognise you
not just in the flowers and sunsets
but in the buildings and the pavements,
the smart phones and the televisions
the aircraft and the bridges.
Help us to have joy in every aspect of the miracle of life —
including the skills and ingenuity of others
which smooths our path on a daily basis
as well as creating beauty for us to enjoy.
Help us to show that joy, living in your world,
your creation, that others would recognise you
in our joy in your creativity
and praise you in turn, Amen.
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