Lent 2021: A Story to Live BySample

Before the beginning

Before the beginning there was a blank page,

an empty space onto which would be written

a story more astonishing than you could dream of.

Before the beginning there was an image,

a vision of generosity and power

and inspiration and compassion

and mercy and beauty and grace

– an image in whose likeness you are made.

Before the beginning

there was a singularity of possibility,

an infinitely small dot, heavy as the bones of God,

pulsating with the shining imagination

of potential, of all that could be,

of all that was and is and will be:

all of the mystery and the mud,

all of the smiles and the stars,

all of the wildflowers

and the dark matter

and the bleeding hearts,

all of the rage and the ruin

and the redemption and the dancing

all of the fingers entwining

and the galaxies colliding

and the birth and death 

and laughter and grief and salvation.

Before the beginning

there was an intake of breath,

the divine lungs filling with hope and fire

and the shaking multitude of souls,

there was a pause, a grin,

and then a word – begin.

Author: Gideon Heugh