new

Jan 1.  2010.  I am walking the quiet halls of the hospital, far away from Time Square, from party hats and bubbly, from boisterous countdowns and resolutions.
But it is a new year.  I am reminded of the creation story.  In pastoral theology and at bedsides we have talked about it.  It reads differently in the hospital.

 ¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
     I like the feeling that for a little bit everything was perfect.  No brokenness or pain. That God had a plan and everything went His way.  I like the security I feel when I picture Him being bigger than all the heavens and all the earth.
 ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
    Was it as formless as the grief that flowed out of the chest pain center consult room tonight?  Was it as empty as the hearts of the parents who walked out of NICU without a baby? Was it as dark as the future of the boy who caused the accident?  And if so, how can I help all these people to feel that the Spirit of God still hovers?
   ³ And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.  
Even in these dark rooms there is a lot of light.  For some families it is Jesus, plain and simple. For some it is faith in God's sovereignty, or their religious tradition.  For some it is the blessed hope of an eternal future that lights their darkness.  For others the glow comes from the love of family and friends.
^5...And there was evening, there always is in the hospital.
and there was morning make it soon Jesus.
- the first day.  Happy New Year!


God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.  Psalms 51:7  The Message