Separate!

 

God spoke:

Separate!

"Water beneath Heaven, gather into one place;

Land, appear!"  And there it was.

God named the land Earth.  He named the pooled water Ocean.

God saw that it was good!

God spoke:

"Earth, green up!  Grow all varieties of see-bearing plants,

every sort of fruit-bearing tree."  And there it was.

Earth produced green seed-bearing plants, all varieties,

and fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.  God saw that it was good.

It was evening, it was morning -

Day Three.

With only one basic step accomplished on each of Days One and Two, it was time to get down to business!  The Creator spoke the waters into seas and caused dry land to appear. Upon that sandy brown canvas, God began to paint a living, breathing landscape such as we have never seen.  Tall trees and prickly bushes, formal gardens and thick hedges, green plants of every description for food and decoration, and a million flowers in every color imaginable. 

Lowe's Home Improvement Centers once had an advertisement:  A woman approaches her backyard, reaches down for what appears to be the side of a large rug, and starts to "shake it out."  What unfolds is her entire backyard landscape, fully grown, brilliant in the sunlight - glowing with flowers, beautifully trimmed grass and gorgeous foliage. Every time I saw that ad, it reminded me of creation.  No, God didn't flip out a fully-formed landscape.  He simply talked - and each thing He mentioned immediately appeared.  Hibiscus!  Peach trees!  Redwoods!  Syacamores!  Red roses!  Hydrangeas!  Lilies! Fig trees!  As His mind thought of them, His voice spoke them, and after all was said and done, God saw that it was good.

 *

You shall go out with joy and be lead forth with peace,

The mountains and the hills will break forth before you;

There’s be shouts of joy and all the trees of the field

Will clap, will clap their hands.

And all the trees of the field will clap their hands,

The trees of the field will clap their hands.

The trees of the field will clap their hands

While you go out with joy.

The Faith We Sing, No. 2279