“In the darkness, something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. The hills were coming up. The earth was heaving and swelling like a wave of the sea. ‘Man, I give you the rule of this land. Treat it gently and cherish it.’” — C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew The apostle Paul reminds us that we have been grafted into the origin story of the People of God—a story that begins with God creating a good and beautiful world, and humans as beloved and creative stewards made in God’s image. Before long, the story takes a tragic turn, giving way to exile from our original Home. Since then, a quiet homesickness has haunted the human experience—a sense that, for all its awakening beauty, the world is not now as it was meant to be. Yet the story does not end in exile. Scene after scene, we witness God’s persistent and passionate initiative to rescue and restore all of creation and His cherished human image-bearers. From Noah to Abraham, from Israel’s return from exile in Babylon to the bright expectancy of Anna and Zechariah in Luke’s Gospel, the story unfolds across centuries, culminating in the incarnation of Jesus, the promised King and Rescuer. And now the story continues—handed down from one generation to the next—inviting each generation to freely and creatively enter, participate, and carry the story forward. This great, cosmic history is the story within which our own personal histories unfold and find their meaning. What might it look like to recover our origin story—both the cosmic and the personal? What if remembering where we come from is essential to our apprenticeship? Our origin stories help us name who we are, locate us within a larger story, and gently orient us toward the way forward. As pastor and teacher, Jason Jackson writes, origin stories are “seeds that are planted, becoming the identity of today and the vision of tomorrow.” So we pause and wonder: What are the seeds of your origin story? Where do you come from—and who do you come from? As you reflect, what patterns begin to emerge? How might God be inviting you to notice what He is forming in you today, in light of where you have come from and where He is leading you? As we unpack the seeds of the Become Good Soil story, we pray this episode might support you in recovering and strengthening the promise carried in the seeds of your story as well. It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come. For the Kingdom, Morgan & Cherie
