When Yahweh created the world, His Spirit hovered over the waters to transform the empty waste into glory and beauty. When Yahweh re-created the world in the tabernacle, His Spirit hovered again, this time over the craftsmen Bezalel and Oholiab, to whom He gave wisdom to make things.
The Spirit overflowed to everyone. Skilled women spun purple and scarlet material and prepared coverings from goats’ hair. Wise men constructed the furniture of God’s tent.
The Spirit continues to re-create through us, by granting us the wisdom to glorify the world and each other.
The Spirit gives skill to teach and to lead and equips people for what may seem to be lesser tasks – service, generosity, mercy, help, administration. Whatever the Spirit equips you to do, do it; and watch the new creation take shape under your hand.
No one is left out of this work. No one can take a pass. There are no spectators. Each of you has unique wisdom for this work of new creation. There is no room for envy: “The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you.” Nor is there room for despising your own gifts. When we despise ourselves and envy others, we despise the Creator Spirit.
Notes on Anosmia
One morning several years ago, as my wife, Wendy, and I were having breakfast together, I had…
Empire of Unreality
Shiva Naipaul (1945–1985) was the author of three novels and two books of mordant dispatches from places…
The Dreadful Christ of Pär Lagerkvist
It’s dangerous to meet a god,” says the disgraced Pythia in Pär Lagerkvist’s The Sibyl. Her observation…