Brian McLaren is one of the most influential popular theologians working today. In his 2014 book We Make the Road by Walking he gave a basic orientation on what it means to be 'a new kind of Christian' through 52 sermons, working within the framework of the church year and providing a Genesis-Revelation overview of the Bible.
It was designed to be used in church services and small groups, and was praised by New Testament scholar Paula Gooder and enthusiastically adopted by many.
His new book, Seeking Aliveness, is a repurposing of this material for use by individuals, breaking up the text into daily devotions, along with the original suggested Bible readings and with a prayer, thought or action point for each day.
Here are three readings from his section on Genesis that give a flavour of the book, reproduced with permission.
The Great Surprise
Big bangs aren't boring. Dinosaurs aren't boring. Coral reefs aren't boring. Elephants aren't boring. Hummingbirds aren't boring. And neither are little kids. Evolution isn't boring. Magnetism and electricity aren't boring. E = MC2 might be hard to understand, but it certainly isn't boring. And even glaciers aren't boring, although their dramatic pace is at first quite hard for us to perceive. And God, whatever God is, must not be boring either, because God's creation is so amazingly, wonderfully, surprisingly fascinating.
The first and greatest surprise – a miracle, really – is this: that anything exists at all, and that we get to be part of it. Ripe peach, crisp apple, tall mountain, bright leaves, sparkling water, flying flock, flickering flame, and you and me...here, now!
On this, the first pages of the Bible and the best thinking of today's scientists are in full agreement: it all began in the beginning, when space and time, energy and matter, gravity and light burst or bloomed or banged into being. In light of the Genesis story, we would say that the possibility of this universe over- flowed into actuality as God, the creative Spirit, uttered the original joyful invitation: Let it be! And in response, what happened? Light. Time. Space. Matter. Motion. Sea. Stone. Fish. Sparrow. You. Me. Enjoying the unspeakable gift and privilege of being here, being alive.
Today:
Pray: 'God, help me be awake to beauty, wonder and delight wherever they appear.'
Here We Are
Picture the unfolding of creation. Imagine how uncountable nuclei and electrons and sister particles danced and whirled. Imagine how space dust coalesced into clouds, and how clouds coalesced into galaxies, and how galaxies began to spin, sail and dance through space. Imagine how in galaxy after galaxy suns blazed, solar systems twirled and worlds formed. Around some of those worlds, moons spun, and upon some of those worlds, storms swirled, seas formed and waves rolled. And somewhere in between the smallest particles and the largest cosmic structures, here we are, in this galaxy, in this solar system, on this planet, in this story, around this table, at this moment – with this chance for us to breathe, think, dream, speak and be alive together.
Today:
Think of yourself as surfing on the leading edge of a magnificent creation that has been unfolding for billions of years.
A Common Amazement
The Creator brought it all into being, and now, some 14 billion years later, here we find ourselves: dancers in this beautiful, mysterious choreography that expands and evolves and includes us all. We're farmers and engineers, parents and students, theologians and scientists, teachers and shopkeepers, builders and fixers, drivers and doctors, dads and mums, wise grandparents and wide-eyed infants.
Don't we all feel like poets when we try to speak of the beauty and wonder of this creation? Don't we share a common amazement about our cosmic neighbourhood when we wake up to the fact that we're actually here, actually alive, right now?
Today:
When you slip out of aliveness and into autopilot, remind yourself that you're 'actually here, actually alive, right now'!
'Seeking Aliveness' by Brian McLaren is published by Hodder and Stoughton, price £14.99.
