The movement of the Holy Spirit can be found throughout human history, from creation, through Jesus, the disciples, the apostle Paul, and up to today in the here and now, through people like you and me. This five-part series is a retelling of those stories, and starts with Part one, when the beginning begun.
Once upon a time, before the beginning begun, there was God. And God was all, and was in all. But after being everything there is for trillions and trillions of years, as you might imagine, God got lonely. And in that moment God thought, you know what? It’s time to play. It’s time to create. So God got going.
When God got going, God brought along something very special. Something that was also there before the beginning begun, and is the very essence of Godself. God brought along God’s Spirit, and the Spirit of God, in the midst of nothingness, hovered over the waters (Gen 1:2). The Spirit then moved at God’s command, busily drawing light from darkness, separating water from sky and then land, splitting sun from moon, planting vegetation of all kinds, and filling the earth, the air and the waters with all sorts of living and breathing creatures (Gen 1:3-25). Then God then asked the Spirit to create humankind, making man and woman in God’s own image. God then gave them a very important job: tend to all that has been created, for it was created for you. (Gen 1:28).
God, for a time, walked among creation, chatting at length with Adam, telling of all the tips and tricks that would be needed to tend this most beautiful garden God had created. (Gen 2:8-25). Adam and Eve were God’s children after all, God loved them, and eagerly looked forward to spending time with them each and every day.
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But God just couldn’t leave well enough alone. What good parent could? I love those kids, and all the creation I’ve given them too, God said. They may not want me. They may think they can do without me. And do without this perfect garden, but oh boy, what a mess they will make on their own out there. What shall I do, God thought? Then God had an idea.
The kids may not want me around, but still, they need my help. With that God decided, that, while God and the kids were going through some troubled times, God’s Spirit, in ways great and small, could help the kids along their way. And the Spirit could move in God’s world, and in all of God’s people, teaching, encouraging and inspiring all that God had created. And all that God had deemed good, from when the beginning begun.
And, from that moment on, the Spirit came to be the embodiment of the creative work of God in our world.
Last month Pastor in Pajamas traveled with a group of six to assist with a Vacation Bible School (VBS) at the Village of Hope, a school in Haiti our congregation supports. Each night our group gathered for a meal, shared in a short devotion, and spent some time reflecting on the day. I led three of the devotions, drawing from the themes of Creation, the Promised Land and Jubilee. For more on our experiences in Haiti, rewind to Part 1 – Haiti – Jesus is Alive!
We had been in Haiti a little over 24 hours for this first devotion. At this point the group had experienced our first day conducting VBS at the Village of Hope. The school is a collection of several concrete block buildings with tin roofs. Many of the rooms have openings with bars in them that function as ventilation and also let sunlight into the space. Most rooms contain several blackboards with white chalk, no dry erase boards here. Even more noticeable at the school is the electricity. There is none.
The Village of Hope has a dress code where boys wear a white shirt and blue slacks; girls wear a blue and white checkered dress, and typically have white bows in their hair. Lunch each day is always the same, beans and rice with a spattering of salty broth and small fish heads, served in an upside-down Frisbee that is used as a plate. There are drinking fountains right outside the cafeteria where students both wash their hands before eating and rehydrate. To first world eyes this may sound more like a prison than a school. But consider this: public schools in the area have a graduation rate of 25%. At the Village of Hope the graduation rate nears 85%. Here the simplicity of the school is no prison, in this context it’s paradise.
Students from the Village of Hope, reciting their national anthem
Our commute to the school is similarly sparse in many ways. Most street vendors and stores deal either in toiletries, food, clothing, or auto parts. Over the eleven mile trip between the mission house and the school we passed literally thousands of street vendors selling essentials like food, drink, soap and shampoo. Some vendors just sold one item, motor oil stands seem to be popular. Other vendors offer self-made charcoal, which consisted of partially burnt wood put in a container, to be used later to help build a fire.
By now our group had experienced the scarcity of electricity. Haiti is notorious for having electricity shortages. When demand exceeds supply, power is diverted to the main business district in Port Au Prince. The mission house we stayed at is equipped with a large generator, which is common in more affluent areas in Haiti. The group I went with hail from South Florida, so we’re used to living without electricity, or provide our own with a generator and gasoline when the occasional hurricane comes through.
Our reality back home, on occasion, fully insured
But in South Florida doing without electricity is fairly infrequent; hurricanes trigger a loss of power for a day or two many times, or maybe a week or two if you’re really unlucky. And that only happens every few years for the most part. In Haiti the electricity is a resource in short supply, it’s a way of life. To keep costs down the generator at the mission house is only turned on for a two hours at night before bed and again for two hours in the morning. In a way the limited electricity gave a routine for the day. Those few morning and evening hours were luxuries for things like bathing under running water, reading with indoor lighting, and to enjoy a bit of air conditioning from the wall AC units.
An existence like this, of doing without modern conveniences, peels away many of the societal layers that make up the first world. Perhaps it has more in common with how the world existed in Biblical times than most of us are familiar with. I mentioned this to the group as a backdrop to the devotion and then read the creation story from Genesis 1:1-2:4a, using the King James Version.
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During the devotion one person mentioned the challenges Haiti faces to maintain creation. One of the county’s most valuable resources is timber, and over the past few hundred years the island has been largely deforested, either to pay down national debt or provide a basic income for people in a land where jobs are very hard to come by. In recent years efforts have been made at reforestation, which could help bring back some of the timber industry and help the local economy. More importantly, it puts roots into the land, roots that stabilize the earth, decreasing the likelihood of mudslides and the negative impact on the land and people these mudslides bring.
Another person spoke to finding meaning in God’s daily reflections on creation that “it was good.” They went on to say that at times it was difficult to see the goodness of God’s creation in Haiti and this text was a helpful reminder of the inherent goodness of it all.
Local vendors selling food and drink along the street
Despite these challenges, there is hope. The earthquakes of 2010 have helped to shine a light on Haiti, bringing financial aid from other countries and helping to fund the rebuilding of buildings, homes and vital infrastructure. Industries are being expanded, including textiles and agriculture.
Perhaps the simplicity of Haiti and the need to rebuild post-earthquake is an opportunity to take hard fought environmental learnings from around the globe and use it to encourage right relationship with people, animals and land. Where is God in Haiti? Right here, walking alongside a country and helping them to reimagine creation. We then closed the evening with a Haitian prayer:
“Lord, Help us not to connect ourselves to things, we may have four dresses today, but maybe there will be a time when we don’t have any. Help us to connect ourselves to God’s Word.”
