On the sixth day of (not after) Christmas
my True Love gave to me,
Six Geese A-laying
Six geese? Ahh, the six days of creation that confess God as Creator and Sustainer of the world (Genesis 1).
Creation most certainly is a gift!
The participation in creation is a gift, note that the six geese are a laying, all of creation is invited to participate in creation, creating still, still a laying according to His good Word.
Each day of creation is a gift in itself. Just as in a gaggle of geese there are unique individuals, squawking and honking in their own manner but together to make a whole.
Day One, the first goose a laying: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Earth, darkness and light, Day and Night. Precursor to rest and productivity.
Day Two, the second goose a laying: And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. Sky, heaven. Where the clouds roam, change shape and intrigue us.
Day Three, the third goose a laying: And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
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Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. Land and all vegetation, producing seed and bearing fruit according to the type of plant it is, procreation. And the beginning of gardening! God’s grand garden.
Day Four, the fourth goose a laying: Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. The sun, moon and stars. Spring, summer, winter, fall. Years and foretellings. The star that guided the wise men two thousand years ago.
Day five, the fifth geese a laying: And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. Animal life of the air and of the sea. Beautiful birds, slippery fish, oysters, clams… and procreation. Amusement, amazement and wonder. Who can understand the way of the bird in the air?
Day six, the sixth geese a laying: And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
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Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
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So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
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God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
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Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.”
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And it was so.
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God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Land animals: fluffy furry beasts, creepy crawly things and us! You and me, Adam and Eve. And more procreation. And more wonder and amazement, and confounding, for who can understand the way of a man with a maiden.
Not only the gift of a world of wonder but the gift of our job, to subdue the earth, rule over it, be the steward of it and all that inhabits the earth.
God’s Creation and His invitation of participation, procreation, a gift not a curse.
We were out and about in God’s beautiful world today.
Dirt had his first shearing appointment of the season, the prelambing season.
Some folks, like Kathy, appreciate their mommas sheared up so that lambing goes a little easier. Kathy cancelled until the weather gets a little more settled, but Tammy decided not to.
When we arrived at her snowy place she mentioned that she was hoping Dirt would have called her to say, “not today.” She didn’t realize that her snow was unusual for the area today and that Dirt had no idea it was several degrees lower at her house and sort of white. (We are mostly green now.)
It really doesn’t get warmer from here on out until, oh say some where in April if we’re lucky! However, hopefully not so crazy as the week before Christmas, but certainly not “warm.” Dirt didn’t mind the cold, shearing has a tendency to up your core temp anyway so it was just the rest of us that suffered. (Well, the others suffered, I spent most of the time in the truck with two seed catalogs.)
So here are all the fluffy warm wooly sheep. Not the least suspicious.
However, they’re not understanding why this fellow is getting undressed (almost) and redressed in their chilly barn.
Well, they don’t know what just happened! All they know is that it was very scary, noisy, and weird and now they are the ones that are undressed. And add insult to injury, no one is handing them some coveralls!
At home in the Laundry/Hothouse, some more signs of spring.
Thought you might like to know, on this day that we are talking creation and participation, that my onions did pretty well.
They are on a rather high shelf so the pics are not the greatest. At least you can see I have some little spindles of onions.
The only seeds that did not germinate well were the older ones packaged for o’six. So there you go, proof that they mean what “they” say, that onion seed only lasts one year. 