7. Courage!

Genesis “Stuff!": Love (Conviction) and Courage

Evil, chaos, Genesis…
Evil, chaos, Jesus…
Evil, chaos…

Martin Luther…
With whom the great eternal romance continues. Another of those culture and creation collision Genesis moments came when Luther acted on the courage of his convictions, thereby ushering in the Protestant Reformation. “Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen!” It takes conviction to say, “No!” and courage to say, “Yes!” He was later to write, “Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see” – or see things as they will be.

Courage: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty (Merriam-Webster).

Conviction: strong persuasion or belief (Merriam-Webster).

Reformation
Interestingly enough, Matthew Henry refers to Jesus’ purging of the temple as the “time of reformation.” Centuries later, Luther issues in the “second great reformation” with his The 95 Thesis, in part protesting against the sale of indulgences by the church—a 16th Century “purging”—resulting in the emergence of Protestantism.

Thesis 86 asks: “Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassius, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?” Attributed to Johann Tetzel is this saying: “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”

Matthew Henry continues: “Great corruptions in the church owe their rise to the love of money” (1 Tim 6:5,10).

The Once-ler: 
FROM THE LORAX, BY DR. SEUSS

I meant no harm. I most truly did not.
But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.

I biggered my factory. I biggered my roads.

I biggered my wagons. I biggered the loads
of the Thneeds I shipped out.
I was shipping them forth
to the South! To the East! To the West!
To the North!
I went right on biggering ... selling more Thneeds.

And I biggered my money, which everyone needs.



The Right Stuff
There is a thin line between “need” and “greed.” Driven by the courage of their convictions, Genesis thinkers can decipher between the two. A Genesis person is made of the “right stuff.”

From Happy Musings:

When needs are great,
Creativity soars.
Look out!

Or conversely, when greed is great, Creativity is devoured. Look out!

At this critical prologue juncture, the question begs itself: “What “stuff” was this Genesis person, Martin Luther, made of and how can we appropriate some of that same “stuff” for ourselves?” This Genesis stuff will continue to reveal itself as these pages unfold, with courage and conviction right at the top of the list.

“HATE IS EASY; LOVE TAKES COURAGE.”

As Maya Angelo so eloquently put it, “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

Cyberspace Link: Maya captures this truth in a recitation of her inspirational poem: Still I Rise.


1. NEW!

My twin grandsons above, Parker and Hayden, nine months after their Genesis moment. A new book is in the process of creation and I’m led to unfold it in cyberspace as “a work in progress.” Its working title is, “Inyesvation,” each chapter to feature a visual illustration similar to this photograph, along with an appropriate internet link designed to further illustrate the concepts presented. It is a book about innovation, the first chapter titled simply, “New.”

Introductory Page

Some see things as they were.
Others see things as they are.
A few see things as they will be.

1
Something New!

Innovate: Introducing, inventing something new or original.

Genesis: The origin, source, creation, or coming into being of something.

“When God began creating the heavens and the earth, the earth was a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapors” (Genesis 1:1-2 TLB).

Created: baaraa': "create, give being to something new" (Barnes’ Notes).

“…obsessing over the history represented by…statistics…being culturally appropriate…but functionally inappropriate…and creating something new is genesis, which comes before history.”

“To be functionally inappropriate is to be dysfunctional.”

"Genesis is 'finding in the chaos beyond culture antidotes for the stagnation of status quo.'” (Orbiting the Giant Hairball, Gordon MacKenzie)

Status Quo: Stagnation.

Antidote: Remedy or Cure.

“The Enthroned continued,
‘Look! I’m making everything new.’”
(Rev. 21:5, The Message)

“Every time we say, ‘Let there be!’ in any form, something happens – Stella Terrill Mann.

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now! – Van Goethe.

“Creativity is a drug I cannot live without” – Cecil B. DeMille.

“The creative process is my drug of choice” – Joe Noland.

Creativeness: …simply the act of making something new (Wikipedia).

I never use the term, “out-of-the-box thinking” because with God boxes don’t exist, nary a one to “think out of.”

Out-of-the-box thinking is nonsensical,
It’s absurd, boring, silly and whimsical
Would God be accused of thinking such?
Alas, He wouldn’t have created much.

Boxes non-existent with the all-seeing,
Boundary free when ‘bringing into being.
No old boxes when creating you:
“Behold! I’m making everything new.”

God Boxes: Oxymoron.

There is nothing more exciting, stimulating and emboldening than creating something new – “genius, power and magic in it.”

LET THERE BE!

GodTube: Creation Calls.

JN