SINGING THE CREATION HYMN

Raise a glad cry, you heavens: the Lord has done this; shout you depths of the

earth. Break forth, you mountains, into song, you forest, with all your trees.

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and shows his glory through Israel.
Is. 44:23

We all know that God made the universe in creative order, beauty, and harmony. God sang the hymn of creation upon finishing his masterpiece and the whole creation sang with Him in the harmonious and melodious tune. This creation, considered by God as good, sang in unity and beauty in the orchestra of created wonders as God meant to be. However, as we take a good glimpse what is happening around us now, such unity and beauty is lost. The creative harmony somehow turned into a discordant and raucous. Mother Earth is sniveling a dirge and cannot perform Her music. Creation now cannot sing as one for man has lost his tune.

Oils spills, deforestation, whale hunting, species extinction, soil erosions, poverty, racial enmity… all are sad stories and sad realities happening around us. These are just a few of the ecological imbalances and man-made disasters that are transpiring before our very eyes and the list is unending. Everyday we see and hear of such gloomy realities of ecological exploitation that Mother Nature is enduring. It is sad to know that there is nobody to be blamed of these disharmony but man himself.

This exact reality practically shows man had lost his memory of his part in the orchestra of the creation hymn. Instead of being its steward and protector, man practically plundered and adulterated Mother Earth and the whole ecosystem furthermore becoming Her enemy. We basically, not learned to live in peace with animals, sky, mountain, ocean, and trees. We practically sinned against God and nature. This sin is a failure to accept our place in the scheme of things and it results in the displacement of others from the habitats that give them life. These ecological concerns which stresses on God's inclusive love for all His living creatures and indeed all of nature are now vulnerable and are oppressed. Now the whole creation sang a song of wretchedness and misery, calling for salvation and redemption.

Could we ever sing the hymn again together with all of creation and regain the melody that was lost? I think there is no other way but to look deep inside our very being and contemplate within ourselves our role in this symphony of creation. We have to remember that when God created us; He created us in his own image and likeness. And made us his co-workers in His creation by commanding us to have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. (cf. Gen. 1:26) This does not mean absolute dominion; but must be done in the context of the quality of life of our fellow human beings and of our future generation. There is a need for us to have a respect to the integrity of creation. An ecologically good life is grounded in recognition of the integrity of God’s creation. We have to be aware of value of all creatures in and for themselves, for one another, and for God, and their interconnectedness in a diverse whole that has unique value for God, together constitute this integrity of creation.

As created in God's image, we received a mandate to subject to ourselves the earth and all it contains, and to govern the world with justice and holiness; a mandate to relate ourselves and the totality of things to God who was to be acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all. We could never truly glorify and worship God as our creator if we cannot live in peace with the whole of creation.

True enough, it is our task to develop the earth by the work of our hands, in order that it might bear fruit and become a dwelling worthy of the whole human family as we carry out the design of God manifested at the beginning of time, that we should subdue the earth, perfect creation and develop ourselves. At the same time, placing ourselves at the service of our fellowmen. This call of self-examination in the line of stewardship and our responsibility towards creation will definitely help us regain our memory of the melody we lost. For such piece of music is deeply embedded in our very being for we are really part of the great symphony of creation. The only thing we have to do is to contemplate creation in our heart and listen to the beat and tune of the hymn of creation that is deeply enclosed within.

When God created everything from chaos, He essentially wrought salvation for His entire creation. Therefore, this hymn of creation is the song of our salvation. It is not new to us for we are part of it and it is part of us. Singing it again entails, the salvific work of God working again in creation. With this, we could still sing along with the entire world’s vanishing song; together with mother earth and father sky, with brother sun and sister moon, with our brother fauna and sister flora. By doing this, we are regaining the melody that was lost; and so doing our bigger part in the orchestra of creation in restoring the musical harmony that was meant to be. So let us sing the creation hymn, let us sing the hymn of our salvation.