A New Creation 2

If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor. 5:17)

God's creative Spirit overflows to the world through those joined with Him.  When the "first creation" had been marred, smeared, bleared, scarred by sin and indifference, God needed a "new creation," a new spring, a new life.  

God is ever-renewing His Life in the world through His Spirit.  Jesus took the first creation -- the "first man/ adam"-- to the cross, bringing our old life to the grave, but rising with a new, untainted life -- the "second man/ Christ (I Cor. 15).

When the breath of God --the Ruah, or Spirit of God---breathes into our old natures, we become a "new creation" in Christ Jesus, the "second adam."  And God's creative spirit begins to flow out of our inner beings to the world around us; wherever we are, "the desert bursts into bloom; the mountains and hills burst into song before you....instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers, the myrtle will grow" (Is. 55).

Hildegard of Bingen was a medieval monastic woman whose life overflowed with creativity in many areas:  writing, poetry, music, prophecy, theater, reform, natural medicine, harmony with all creation.  She saw visions concerning the future and "the depths of the mysteries of God," which she was commanded to "transmit for the benefit of humanity an accurate account of what you see with the inner eye and what you hear with the inner ear of your soul."

Hildegard invented new forms of music for the Middle Ages and a cycle of songs with a vocal range especially suited to the registral disposition of her nuns.  Her biographer writes this of her:

Wisdom enters into the human spirit, finds a home there, and gives birth to a new creation...for one so highly sensitive and receptive to the varying shades of light, it is not unusual to find a "new creation" at the touch of her hands or the sound of her voice.  But what is a new creation?  Surely it is something that frees the human spirit from bondage and calls forth a person's full potential.  It is an act of Wisdom which "renews the world," a Wisdom that is "the breath of the power of God" breathing into one's spirit the very life of the Creator - God.

There is so much more on this theme that I will have to continue tomorrow.  In the meantime, if we find ourselves noticing the play of light on a leaf, bursting into song, or bowing in adoration at the goodness of life, we might want to note that the Breath of God has blown through our spirits, renewing and redeeming what had grown old and weary in our souls.