Scripture: Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Thought for the Day: Scripture speaks of a wind (or breath or spirit) that swept across the face of the water, a formless void. Some translators offer a slightly different word to describe what this wind/breath/spirit did, translating the word as hovered. The Hebrew word is Rachaph, and it describes a mother bird standing over her eggs and warming them by fluttering her wings. The eggs are life waiting to emerge, but without the mother’s care, life will not be. This is powerful imagery, for it does not simply describe one moment at the beginning of creation. It is a description of the Spirit’s ongoing work in the world and in our lives. Wherever life is waiting to emerge, the Spirit is at work like a mother bird who patiently and with care hovers over those places that need the divine warmth if they are ever going to move toward life.
Prayer: In all those places in life, O Creator God, that new life remains a distant hope, I pray for your Spirit to hover and warm the potential into the fullness of life. Amen.
