Statements of Faith ~ Week 3

 

We continue to lean in, listen to, and learn from the creeds of the church.  We’ve explored the UCC Statement of Faith two weeks ago; last week we let the words of the New Creed from the United Church of Canada spark our imaginations and stir our souls.  This week, we turn to a Creed created by a Women in Theology group in Eastwood, Australia.  I invite you to slowly savor these thoughtful words, noticing where your soul is drawn and where you find yourself questioning, or with curiosity bubbling up to know more.

 

Creed used by Women in Theology group from Eastwood, Australia

​O God, the source of our being and the goal of all our longing, we believe and trust in you. The whole earth is alive with your glory and all that has life is sustained by you. We commit ourselves to cherish your world and to seek your face.

O God, embodied in a human life, we believe and trust in you. Jesus, our brother, born of the woman Mary, you confronted the proud and the powerful, and welcomed as your friends those of no account.

Holy Wisdom of God, firstborn of creation, you emptied yourself of power, and became foolishness for our sake.

You laboured with us upon the cross, and have brought us forth to the hope of resurrection.

We commit ourselves to struggle against evil and to choose life.

O God, life-giving Spirit, Spirit of healing and comfort, of integrity and truth, we believe and trust in you.

Warm-winged Spirit, brooding over creation, rushing wind and Pentecostal fire, we commit ourselves to work with you and renew our world. Amen.

 

Consider the descriptions of God above.  What does it mean that God is the source of your being and goal of your longing?  What does that look like, feel like, and sound like?  Connect this to the passage from yesterday in Mark 12 about loving God with all your head, heart, hands, and every fiber of your being.  How might you live these words?  Where is your trust level in God today, realizing that the gauge can go up and down?  How are you turning toward and tuning into God’s wisdom?  What does it mean that God labored with us on the cross?  Or we could say, God suffers with us when we find ourselves weighted down with the crosses of injustice and inequality today?  How can you be awake and aware of the warm-winged Spirit that is brooding, surfing, hovering, and humming amid your life and all that has breath in creation?  Take just one of the questions above to let this Creed rummage and roam around your life today.  Amen.