Creation

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth.

The Earth was formless and liquid, and there was darkness. Then God spoke the words that men have uttered in reverence in the millennia since.

Let there be light.

In that instant, the universe was born.

From the death throes of an ancient and massive singularity, the universe exploded outward and began to expand. It was but a single resonating tone of creation that reverberated and echoed through the infant universe.

God waited and watched as space and time formed and expanded. It thrummed with new energies and the will of its creator. Superhot gases coalesced and cooled into cottony clouds of hydrogen, which God ran His hand across. He watched as eddies and swirls formed in the wake of His passing.

Taking some of the clouds into His hands, He compressed and shaped them into a softly glowing sphere. Critically, He held it up to His eyes to examine.

No. Not yet.

Then, smiling and humming softly to Himself as He worked, He continued to gather more and more of the hydrogen. The ball warmed under His touch. Light crackled under His fingertips as He moved. The sphere flamed to life and pierced the darkness like a beacon.

Carefully, He placed the sun into the proper position, and set it to spinning.

And there was light.

He turned His attention back upon the Earth, now lazily turning and circling the newborn star. The surface was covered with a vast ocean that reflected the light of the sun back into space. Seeming to glow from within, the incandescent blue sphere gently rode a current of gravity around the sun.

Let there be dry land in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters into seas and oceans.

The waters split open and parted as magma rose up out of the bowels of the Earth. Steam billowed and Hissed its protest as myriad volcanoes formed and spewed their contents forth. The Earth shuddered and shook violently under the force of creation and the planetquakes that rippled across its surface.

Mountains rose up where none once were and tsunami billowed away from the new shores with such speed and ferocity they circled the planet.

The glowing lava cooled, and the monolithic supercontinent took shape. Residual aftershocks still shook the planet, but now where once there was nothing but water the continent of Pangaea stood alone. Covering nearly a third of the Earth’s surface, it unblinkingly stared back into space.

The Earth waited for His next command.

Let the earth put forth vegetation and fruit-bearing trees.

He extended His hand towards the lone brown and charred eye of the earth. Light shot from His fingertips and encircled the globe in a crisscrossing pattern. Grasses and leafy plants shot up from the soil. Flowers burst open and turned their gaze towards the sun. Trees drew themselves higher up into the sky in song and spread their arms open wide under the gaze of their creator. Rivers and streams flowed and added melodic tinges to the chorus that rose up into the air. What was once brown and black and charred became vibrant and alive with green and blue.

Let there be lights in the heavens to divide the day from the night.

God stretched out His arms and turned in a circle to look at the darkness that surrounded Him and the newly created Earth. His eyes scanned the ether, and pinpricks of light began poking through the black shroud. More and more quickly scores of pinpricks appeared in the blackness until the heavens were filled with swirling stars and then galaxies. Seemingly at random, some of the droplets of light would dim, only to rage like a fire and then blossom into nebulae like the flowers blossoming on the Earth below.

All of space and time glowed and danced just for Him as He worked.

Stars and planets took form and solidified. An alabaster marble, the moon formed and swirled into place and began its dance around the Earth. The universe coalesced and took shape as He sighed happily. Like a craftsman, he fine-tuned His intricate clockwork mechanism.

All of eternity moved in a swaying dance of perfection as God sang the song of creation.

Let the earth and the seas and the skies bring forth living creatures. Let them be fruitful and multiply.

The seas began to swirl as thousands of different species of fish teemed in silvery schools. Following them were the great Whales, whose sweetly lamenting song echoed that of their creator. In the sky above, vast flocks of birds took flight, their trilling adding harmony. Across the plains of the earth, large herds of Buffalo, Bison, Elephant, and Rhino thundered and added rhythm to the tempo.

Closing His eyes, He listened to the chorus that is Life. He breathed in the incense of worship and savored the smell.

It was sweet and beautiful and innocent.

Perfection.

But not complete.

No. Not yet.

With a thought, God moved from the heavens to the face of the Earth. The sun was peeking through the clouds in the eastern sky, and a gentle rain was ending. His breath misted in the air. He looked around at the trees waving in a soft breeze. He stared at the sky and felt the rain wash His face clean. Closing His eyes, he took in everything around Him as life slowly hummed its song in His ears.

Opening His eyes, he kneeled, and ran His fingers through the soil and rubbed it into the palms of His hands.

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

The smell of the Earth permeated the air around Him. It was musty and rich and dry and sweet all at the same time. He gathered a large amount of soil in His hands and held it up to His face, savoring the smell. Some of it crumbled through His fingers and He watched it fall to the ground. Taking a deep breath, and letting it out again, He set to work.

Scooping the soil into a large mound, God first formed the torso. He shaped the muscles in the abdomen and chest until they were well formed and had a distinct shape. Then, he shaped the arms and the legs, giving them the same attention to detail. Carefully, he molded the hands and fingers and toes down to the most minute of details. Lips, closed eyes, and a slightly hooked nose took shape on a cHiseled face as He worked.

Finally, God stopped and looked at what lay on the ground before him.

Lying there, still dust and dirt and soil, was what would become man.

God walked around the man once, surveying His creation. He made some small adjustments here, and a reshaping there. Finally, he was done.

Almost.

He kneeled at the head of the man lying on the ground before Him and cradled the head in His hands. God’s forehead touched the forehead of the man he had formed.

Let there be life.

God put His lips on the lips of the man and breathed spirit and life into the body made of dust.

Mud and clay became flesh and bone.

A heart began to beat.

A breath was taken.

Man was alive.

And with that, God rested.