We are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are to love God with all the parts of us. Our body is the temple of God, our soul is the innermost parts of who we are, our heart is the core engine in which keeps our body and soul alive, and then there's our mind. Our intellectual prowess, our doubt, our questions, our concerns, our thoughts, our educational endeavors, all point to the love of God

It's at the river Jesus is baptized. It's at the river where we go after we die. It's at the river that God springs up something new... even in the wastelands. Rivers are important, for the bring us to God. This is true in Isaiah 43, and is still true today

One of the most holy spaces in all of the bible is the Temple/Tabernacle. In ancient Judaism, there was even a place called "Holy of Holies." The space where God dwells matters, and this is true in Exodus 35. As a matter of face, the Israelite's commitment to such a space still speaks to us today.

The Bible begins and ends in a garden. This symmetry matters, for it reminds us that where we are, our location, says something about our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Nature is a way that the Holy Spirit uses to speak to us. If we have ears to hear and eyes to see, then we will experience the grace of God in places like gardens.

Ancient Jewish thought believes in the creation of the tzimzum. It is the space created between two people. Healthy relationships happen when both parties offer love to the created tzimzum. Because of the Holy Spirit, we all share in a tzimzum. As Christians, we must pay attention to (and learn) the importance of sharing love with one another. It's one good way we encounter the Holy Spirit.

One of America's slogans is E Pluribus Unum, meaning "Out of many, one." South Africa has a similar word, Ubuntu. Inda says Namaste. All three of these ideas suggest similar ideologies: "We are one in the bond of love." Christianity is no different. What happens to one of us happens to all of us. Because of the Holy Spirit, we are all intricately connected to share love, hope, and joy with one another, and Matthew 18 agrees.

The Rhythm of Genesis 1 shows that as things unfold, god sees them as good. For too long, humanity has hitched her wagon to the idea that all created things are evil and broken. In the beginning, this is just not the case. God saw land, animals, vegetation, and water... as good. And God saw humans as "very good." The rhythm of Creation matters and is something we need to reclaim.

The Rhythm of Genesis 1 calls for rest Sabbath is one of the foundational teachings of scripture, and we see it as early as creation. It was important for God to rest, and it should be for us, too.