Creation and Lifebooks

My undergraduate degree is in Biology and at the Christian University were I studied, biology majors  were required to take a seminar class on science, ethics, and faith their senior year. Our professor, Dr. Nichols, was an incredible teacher and also an elder at a church in town. I respected him immensely. He was great at leading our discussions and asking questions that challenged our thinking without ever imposing his own thoughts. I remember the evolution vs creation discussion and for the first time coming away with my faith stretched just enough to leave room for the possibility that the story of Adam and Eve was more poetic that literal.

This was a monumental thing for me. I was a child of the 80's and 90's and growing up I knew where I was supposed to fall on that argument. I knew which one was the the right side and which one was the wrong side. It was very important that if you were a christian you thought the right thing about all the controversial topics, and that you proclaimed your stance even if your conviction came off a little arrogant. See below.

Fast forward to a few years ago when Cory preached a sermon on Genesis 1-2 and my faith expanded again.  When it came to the beginning of the world I thought there were only two sides to choose from (Creation or Evolution) but Cory talked about how many people groups have their own version of how the world started. They are called "Creation myths." I'll let wikipedia help us out:

While in popular usage the term myth often refers to false or fanciful stories, formally, it does not imply falsehood. Cultures generally regard their creation myths as true.^[4][5] In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths, metaphorically, symbolically and sometimes in a historical or literal sense.^[6][7] They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths – that is, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.^[8]

Creation myths often share a number of features. They often are considered sacred accounts and can be found in nearly all known religious traditions.^[9] They are all stories with a plot and characters who are either deities, human-like figures, or animals, who often speak and transform easily.^[10] They are often set in a dim and nonspecific past that historian of religion Mircea Eliade termed in illo tempore ("at that time").^[9][11] Creation myths address questions deeply meaningful to the society that shares them, revealing their central worldview and the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context.

I know the above is a pretty wordy and academic definition. But I hope you took the time to read it. For some it may be very unsettling to think of the Biblical story as just one of many creation myths. It may even feel heretical, like you are denying God or you are going outside the lines of christianity to even entertain the thought. But for me, it has been very freeing.

Growing up I read the stories of the Old Testament through the lens of the reader, specifically myself as the reader. I filtered everything through my western eyes. I lived in a monotheistic culture, in a wealthy nation, and as a member of the majority race. I read everything with that bias. Where I came from, success was upheld as worthy and results were respected when they came from hard work and determination. Self-made men were heroes. Emotions and experiences were subjective and weak, but knowledge, effort, and sacrifice could be measured and proven.

Lately though, I have found myself reading those same stories from the lens of the writers. Authors that were part of the minority, from a poor nation, the underdogs. The wrote stories in a time where many gods were believed to be real and they had to explain why their God was different.

The reason I wonder about why the authors wrote what they did is because I am an author too. I have written a creation story.  Several years ago I wrote a life book for my adopted son Judah.

A life book is simply a collection of memories and pictures that puts words to how he came to be adopted. It's a tool that can be used to help kids from foster care understand the inevitably hard transitions they have survived, but maybe have not processed yet. I wrote it as though Judah was the narrator of the story and I did this on purpose because I wanted him to embrace this story as his own. Because frankly it is his own.

Below are a few examples from his book so you can see how I tackled some tough topics. The goal should be to take the events of their fragmented life and make it into one seamless story.

Adoptive parents and birth parents

On this page "he" explains the first surprise- how his named was Jordan when he was baby but it changed to Judah when he got adopted. He remembers his old name because he was four years old when we changed it, so I included that in the book. "He" goes on to explain what birth parents vs adoptive parents mean and how adoptive parents are the same thing as your real parents. I tried to think of some questions he might get from friends, and give him the words to answer. 

Lots of pics

To explain why he has brown skin and his older brothers have white skin, "Judah" narrates that a baby's skin always matches the tummy it grew in. Now, for sure, this is not scientifically accurate. Biracial babies can grow in a white tummy, but come out looking brown. I know that. My simple explanation would be wrong if it was written in a science book, but it's inclusion in a life book that was written for a 5 year old with no comprehension of genetics, or sex, or mitosis... but with a definite need to feel secure within himself and his place in our family, was perfect. 

Because when Judah reads the account of what happened, what do I want him to glean from it? Do I hope he memorizes the date he moved to our home or the address of our old house? Did I write it so he would be right when retelling specific events like he's reading from a timeline?

No. I want him to read his life book, his creation myth, and be able to answer deeper questions like where did I come from? Why do I look like this? How did I end up here? What caused all this to happen? How should I feel about my story and also myself?

It has been really great for my faith to read the Bible as though it were a life book, because it changes the questions I ask. I'm not trying to gain knowledge, I'm trying to gain understanding. It doesn't matter to me if Adam and Eve had belly buttons. It don't care if the plants were created before the sun was formed, and I have no interest in discussions on wether it was seven,  24 hour days. Maybe they were and maybe they weren't.

My faith has grown by asking different questions. Why did they write it this way? What were they trying to say about God? What does it mean that christian story tellers explain the beginning with order and delight, while other cultures tell of violence and jealousy? Why did they want us to know that God works and rests? How did people back then get to know God without a Bible to learn from or a morning quiet time study guide?

These are the questions that are fueling my faith now and I love it.