"Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness; an inky blackness ... GOD spoke, "Light!" (v. 1, The Message)

It is amazing that in my 65 years of living on this earth, each day I discover something new about this place. The creation story penned in Genesis is a narrative of two major events: one, the creation of earth (our planet) and two, the creation of humankind (male and female). God created them.

A few years ago there was a popular movie at the theaters called "The Bucket List," starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, two men who meet in the hospital after both had been diagnosed with lung cancer. One was wealthy, and the other was blue collar, but common experiences brought them together to fulfill their "Bucket List" before they died. And now everyone is talking about their bucket list! So much beauty and wonder fills this planet - just watch the National Geographic channel. It is all so amazing! And out of this nothingness, bottomless, emptiness, blackness GOD spoke it into existence. But Genesis reminds us of one principle for our bucket list: we are the stewards of this planet we call earth and need to take care of it in ways like recycling, reforesting and much more. God gave us the ability and responsibility to do just that; for instance, a local church could adopt a "highway program" to canvas and keep clean a stretch of highway in our community.

Lord, grant us wisdom, purpose and strategy to be good caretakers of our planet EARTH. Amen!

Will G. Barnes