Why Genesis Still Feels So Familiar

Why I have come to read Genesis rather differently

An ancient tree carries the marks of every season it has lived through. In much the same way, the opening chapters of Genesis reveal patterns of being human that continue to shape us today. Image: Canva Pro.

Welcome to Monday’s reflection.

Each weekday, paid subscribers receive an exclusive reflection designed to offer a thoughtful pause amid ordinary life. My prayer is that these brief pieces create a little space for curiosity, contemplation and wonder amid the noise of the day.

If you’ve recently joined us, you may also be interested in my new book, Sacred & Secular: Find God in the Ordinary, which brings together some of the most popular and thought-provoking essays from this journey so far.

I have been looking back through old photographs lately, especially of our children when they were young. It is hard to believe that the youngest is now an older teenager. It doesn’t seem possible.

Scrolling back through old photos, there are pictures of first birthdays, family holidays, school uniforms that once looked impossibly oversized, and grainy videos of first words that somehow survive in the cloud. They make me smile every time.

What strikes me, though, is not simply how much they have changed. It is how much of the person they would become was already there.

Even as toddlers, you could glimpse something deeper than appearance. A determination. A mischievous sense of humour. A natural kindness. A stubborn streak. Those qualities have grown and matured over the years, but they did not appear out of nowhere. Looking back, you can already see them taking shape.

It made me wonder whether that is true of humanity as well.