“Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not exist. We are collaborators in creation.” [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]

Recently, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge referred to Genesis, chapter 2. “What’s happening there is the Bible is presenting the human being as a co-creator with God,” Archbishop Coleridge said. “God wants to work with us in the ongoing business of creation. That’s an astonishing claim that the Bible makes about the human being – we are cocreators, and that’s the importance of ‘fruit of the Earth, and work of human hands’. We are to be co-creators, we are to be stewards, and this again is clear in Genesis, Chapter One, where God says, ‘you be the stewards, you look after this extraordinary creation in my name’.”

Sometimes awareness can dawn slowly! This was certainly the case with me in relation to the deeper truth and understanding of creation and love.

On a long road trip, many years ago, our then 5-year-old granddaughter saw the ocean for the first time, in a breath-taking view sweeping down a range, across lush green hills and valleys to the Pacific Ocean. From the lips of this earthly angel came a profound nugget of wisdom: “Poppy, God must really love us, because He made this country so beautiful!”

Although my heart leapt with joy at her amazing reaction, there was no brilliant epiphany for me. The depth of wisdom and meaning contained within her words had only scratched the surface and were to percolate within my heart for 10 years before the Holy Spirit revealed the deepest truth beneath them!

At age 5, in just 13 simple insightful, Spirit-filled words, my granddaughter summarised the never-ending, greatest love story of the theologies of creation and incarnation!

We are children of God, made in the image of God, with God’s breath in our lungs and God’s love in our hearts. As humans, God blessed us and said, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth …’ [Genesis 1:28]. When, as parents, we bring new life into the world, we do as God asks, we bear fruit, we multiply. Hence, we ARE co-creators with God.

If we are co-creators with God and with Jesus the Christ who is in all things, it is vital that we act in our daily lives.

What can I do?  I’m only one person!

So often we don’t act because we don’t see that we can make a difference. But we can… Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, famously said, “If you think you are too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito!”  Recognise that our own experiences and reflections are an invaluable source of wisdom. Also, value what your life has taught you. Treasure what you have already learned.

In Laudato Si’, the second encyclical of Pope Francis, which carries the subtitle “On Care for our Common Home,” the Pope offers detailed suggestions every human being can take and in which no action is too small or too large – everything matters

The Pope invites us to look to our lifestyle. Environmental education must lead to a change in lifestyle, including “avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices.”

There is so much we can do – as individuals, in groups, in community. One person can … and does make a difference.

The Bible says: ‘Keep doing good works and sharing your resources, for these are the kinds of sacrifice that please God’ [Hebrews 13:16]. Jesus teaches: ‘your light must shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven’ [Matthew 5:16].

Seeing ourselves as co-creators with God can lead us to avoid becoming destroyers of the creation that God has so generously given us. Failure to do so will lead to our own destruction as a species.

We are called to be responsible co-creators with God in the world. Our faith is not limited to attending church services on Sunday, but to every sphere of our lives every day. We each have important work to do in God’s sight. In that work, you are doing more than just making ends meet. And let’s not forget the power of prayer!

In all that we do we are co-creators with God and thereby responsible for our lives. Franciscan Richard Rohr says: “Creation is a process that is still happening and we’re in on it! We are a part of this endless creativity of God.”

What can we do today?

Have a golden day and treasure life!