ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler
NGC 602 (Webb image)
NGC 602 is a star cluster that lies on the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way. This image combines X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and infrared data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The dark ring-like structure in the JWST data is made up of dense clouds of dust. Chandra’s X-rays show young, massive stars that are illuminating the dust clouds, sending high-energy light into interstellar space. These X-rays are powered by winds flowing from the young, massive stars that are sprinkled throughout the cluster.(Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC; Infrared: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeilder, E.Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand)
Special to United Methodist Insight | Feb. 3, 2026
After God, the creation is the biggest-picture of the spiritual lie that we can explore. From the smallest particle to the farthest star, “The heavens herald your glory, O God, and the skies display your handiwork. Day after day they tell their story, and night after night they reveal the depth of their understanding” (Psalm 42:1-2).
I like the phrase “reveal the depth of their understanding.” Truth be told, creation is the first Bible. It is the primary text for our spiritual formation. I am thinking about it in these key ways.
First, sacredness. Creation is God-made. Language fails to encompass this reality. In Genesis 1:1 it is Elohim. In Proverbs 8:22-31 it is Wisdom. In John 1:3 it is Logos. But no matter the word, the world is sacred.
Second, oneness. The word and unites the heavens and the earth into a holy oneness. Sky, soil, and soul are all together in both tangible and intangible ways. We are not competing pieces and parts, we are a community
Third, diversity. Within cosmic unity there is incalculable diversity, revealed in the words every kind–a number we cannot nail down, but which is know in at least two million species of things. And within a single species there is a spectrum of manifestations. Sameness is not the Story.
Fourth, relationship. Beginning with a cosmic interconnectedness (that I will write more about in the next post), creation is relational. We are givers and receivers in it. All life is common life in one way or another. We rise and fall, live and die, together.
Fifth, development. In the first creation story there is movement and growth–“days” (phases, eras) of creation. Not everything at once. Unhurried. Unfolding. Evolving. And more, we know that creation has continued ever since. God is still creating. Creation spirituality puts an end to all “arrival” mentalities. We are ever-becoming, in-the-making (E. Stanley Jones).
There is more that can be said about creation spirituality. Matthew Fox, Ilia Delio, Brian Swimme, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and a host of other philosophers, theologians, and scientists are opening the pages of Creation’s Book in formative ways.
The heavens and the earth do indeed “reveal the depth of their understanding.” Creation is speaking messages we must receive and enact.
Steve Harper 2024
Courtesy Photo
The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper is retired seminary professor, who taught for 32 years in the disciplines of Spiritual Formation and Wesley Studies. Author and co-author of more than fifty books.. He is also a retired Elder in The Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.