Did God Play on the 7th Day?

According to the Genesis story in the Bible, God created the earth and man in six days and rested on the seventh. Actually, I think he partied. From the earliest times it has been recognised how vital it is for us to relax and recreate ourselves at regular intervals and not to endlessly toil as did Sisyphus. We need to take the time to review our progress, to simply enjoy being alive and to celebrate our successes. For me, a sunny day beckons me into the forest, to smell the pines and watch the water cascading over the rocks on its journey to the sea. There amidst the exuberance of nature I get to think big thoughts. 

I realise that every season has its beauty. The mood of the river changes from the ferocious torrent of early spring to the slowest of trickles in a long hot summer.  From its source to the sea the river is continuous. Every part is needed. Every part has its tasks, its energy, its secrets. It is one, whether in the mountains, the countryside or the town-land I know as home.

On days such as this the feeling of oneness pervades every aspect of my existence. While I’m dismayed at needless violence at an Egyptian football match, the slaughter of innocents in Syria, the lunacy of managing illness rather than preventing it or the obscenities of UK bankers bonus payments, for a few hours I’m completely at peace with it all. This allows me to focus purely on my contribution, on how I can make a difference in the lives of others and to feel gratitude for the experience.

There’s every probability that tomorrow’s news will be at least as bad as today’s. There’s also a strong probability that today’s fine weather will give way to the more seasonal wind and rain. Before long events in my personal life will once again preoccupy me; but for now all is well and it’s good to be alive. It’s especially good on a Friday night to share in the music making of an Irish seisiun. Yeats tells us -

“For the Good are always the merry, save by an evil chance. And the merry love the fiddle, and the merry love to dance.”

So for today it’s time to rejoice, to smile and sing, to feel united in journeying toward a purpose greater than my own.  It’s time to share a meal, to enjoy the best of good company and not to be stuck in the kitchen but rather to be dancing my unique steps at God’s own party.