With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation
O God, you are the beginning, the middle, and the end. You are all in all. Lead me. Help me. Forgive me. Keep me from wandering and weariness. Keep my love ready and willing to serve You by serving others. Praise and honor be to You, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God now and forever. Amen.
Confession
O God, how can I believe without your help. I am filled with doubt. “What about . . . ?” “Is it really true?” “How do I really know you’re there? That you’re listening? That you care about me?” I confess with honesty all my fear and disbelief. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me. I believe; help my unbelief.
Word: Genesis 1:27
“So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.”
Meditation: Shaped in His ImageToday’s meditation is written by Megan Roegner.
When I was working on my Master’s degree, I wound up taking a class on Old English because it was the only course available that particular semester to fulfill a graduation requirement. Most of the people in the class were taking it because it was a prerequisite for a later course in which they would read and study Beowulf in its original form. It was Nerd City, and I loved it.
In our work translating Old English poetry into modern English, I learned that a fairly common way for the Anglo-Saxons to refer to God is Scyppend. Scyppend is frequently translated as “Creator,” but its modern English cognate is “Shaper.” Another Old English word for God that translates to “Creator” is Meotodes, which comes from an Old Germanic word for “measure” and may be related to our word “method.” In the mouths and pens of our linguistic forebears, God the Creator has the precision and artistry of a master craftsman, measuring and shaping his work, making it very good.
When I worked on my translations of Old English poems, I also encountered scop, their word for a poet. Scops were extremely important in Anglo Saxon society because their storytelling was largely oral. Scops would travel to meadhalls and recite thousands of lines of poetry from memory. They were artists and preservers of culture. The stories they told unified groups of people and helped clarify their values.
What fascinates me as a lover of words is that scop and Scyppend both come from the same Old English verb, scieppan, which means “to create, form, destine.” I love thinking about God the Creator with the qualities I associate with poets—thoughtful, purposeful, imaginative, artistic. And then we, and the world around us, are poetry.
I also appreciate the connection the variations of scieppan draw between the Creator, the Shaper, and us, the shaped. A human poet is always a scop, never the Scyppend; yet, we can envision through the words’ shared origin what it means for humanity to be created in God’s image. We are formed and measured by the Shaper, and we are compelled to shape, form, and measure in return, albeit in shadowy reflections. Words, art, design, recipes, dance, crafts, music—all pale glimpses of beauty pointing us to his perfect goodness.
Dear Shaper of all good things, let us always remember that we were made in your image. Help us find ways to use our desire to make and create glorify you. Amen.
Benediction
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Amen. (Rom. 15:13)