Hello listeners, welcome to Season 7. A word of preface as we begin. The first pages of Genesis

hold marvels. They beat like a heart, repeat choruses like a song, through poetry and imagery and symbol.

This account of the beginning points us to a God who loves making things, a God who says, in essence, I want you to

imagine me crafting your world. I want to talk about it in a way that provokes your heart to worship.

I want to take you back to those first few moments and remember it with you because I loved that

time and I love you.

And if we can sit here together for a while, you might find yourself loving me more.

As modern readers, we are intrigued, but we come to this text with an agenda so often.

We want Genesis 1 and 2 to explain the logistics of the universe's origin,

provide a comprehensive chronological catalog of hows, and whens, solve our debates about

the age of the universe. We're tempted to saddle scripture's gorgeous prologue with our

priorities and preconceptions and insecurities. We want an ancient

document to be modern. We want an eastern text to be western, round peg, square hole. And hear me,

it's not that all our curiosities and concerns are invalid or unimportant.

It's just that they're ours, and some of them may not be his.

So during this telling of the marvelous creation story, I'd like to invite you to set

those questions to the side for just a moment.

This series will be an exercise in imagination more than a detailed chronology.

It will be meditation, more than education. This is story and song, not textbook or TED Talk.

That's a chance to sit alongside Yahweh inside one of his favorite memories.

Sound good? Let's begin.

How do you tell the story of everything?

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