Rhythm in Genesis 1

Wow, Peterson's insights about the structure of Genesis 1 were new and fresh for me. I had never noticed the structure of the creation story in that chapter and how it formed a rhythmic pattern: 123456777--If you say the numbers out loud, it sounds like you're counting a waltz.

Peterson says that it is the rhythm of time "that keeps us participant and present, inhabiting time, tapping our foot, instead of being a mere onlooker to it, measuring it with a clock" (68). In one way, I think this is true. When I played in the high school band, we would periodically do these exercises to help our improvisational skills. The percussion would start out with a rhythm to keep time, and everyone would play a basic blues progression. Then, each individual had 16 counts to play a solo and improvise a song while everyone else kept playing the basic tune and kept the rhythm. You had to pay attention to the rhythm so that when it was your turn to play, you would know when it was time to jump in and start your solo. So paying attention to the rhythm of creation and tapping our foot with it can keep us alert to God creating, God blessing, God making, God giving, God calling--that basic rhythm--so that we can then jump in and participate with him and sometimes improvise a song ourselves.

However, in another way, I think that rhythm can be taken for granted and sometimes it can be mind-numbing. For example, we take our breathing and heart beating for granted. In the same way, I think that in our churches, the rhythm of the liturgical seasons or the rhythm of the order of worship each Sunday can be taken for granted and even lull people into spiritual sleep or laziness!

Peterson says that his fantasy about visiting Sister Lychen and "raising her blinds" to see God at work in the world during the week is now his way of life: he is trying to raise the blinds of people's living quarters and get them out of the house between Sundays so they can experience the wonder of God's creation. But here is my question, which Tracie also raised in a previous post: As pastors, how do we open the eyes of those in our congregations to be in awe of God's creation in their daily lives? How do we raise their blinds? And does this really work? Will they participate more deeply in worship? Or are they so numbed by the "rhythm" that they are simply marking time by the seasons and are mere onlookers, rather than full participants in worship?