Genesis

1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5)

The bible gives us multiple creation and recreation narratives. The first two chapters of Genesis give us similar stories of God shaping order from the incomprehensible. Then, Genesis 5-9 tells the story of Noah and the flood, and Genesis 11 starts with the story of the Tower of Babel. In both of these later stories God took the order humankind tried to make and threw it into chaos to reestablish God's order. The presence of water and/or the Spirit weave through each narrative - sometimes obviously, sometimes subtly.

At Jesus' baptism both water and the Spirit are present - once again bringing God's order to humanity's chaos. Much like the Wise one's who presented gifts to the child Jesus, those who witnessed his baptism could likely only perceive the slightest shift in the atmosphere. No one could predict the magnitude of what God was setting into motion.

Starting a new year with the same old problems may not feel like a Genesis story, but God is continually designing and imagining, shaping and reshaping. Rather than standing stiff, holding tight to the disorder of our own making, we can allow God's Spirit to flow like water over and through us - transforming the chaos we have created into something God will call good.

6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (Mark 1:6-11)