The Creation story has two halves. In the first three days God, Elohim, essentially makes spaces for living things to be. On days 4-6 Elohim fills those spaces with living creatures. I use the Hebrew word for God here, because it is a plural word. The Old Testament scriptures use a plural word for God, yet state emphatically that God is One. This unity with plurality is part of God’s nature.

At the end of Day 6, God specifically makes people in God’s Image, Male & Female. In Genesis 2 the creation of human beings is expressed more fully and Adam himself says of Eve, that she is “bone of my bone; flesh of my flesh.” They have in this scene become a unified plurality. In fact the text suggests that Adam was divided to become two, but they are essentially one unit of God’s Image.

Interestingly, Adam’s name means “land” or “earth” and Eve’s name means “mother of the living.” It would seem that they are designed to follow this two pronged creative pattern. He creating spaces to live. She filling them with life.

The classic stereotypes of the barren bachelor pad or the lone ranger always seeking the frontier or the open road and the woman who is always decorating and beautifying her home, her table, her garden her community show that there is some carry-over of this pattern in our history. Although we are not just stereotypes. We each of us are more complex than that, and at times show movement in both these expanding and filling dimensions.

However, in practice there seems to be a tension in these two mandates. For some couples there is a lack of contentment with the amount of space provided. Longings for bigger or better create a constant striving and weariness. For some there is a difference of opinion about whether what we’ve filled our spaces with has brought us life, or a kind of living death.

Much of life seems to be marked by cycles. Day and then Night. Summer then Winter. Perhaps it would help us to look at our own natures and think in terms of cycles of on and then off. Maybe what we need is more sabbath. Not just a couple hours of rest, but an intentional pausing of our own nature and pursuit of accomplishment.

Maybe the workaholic needs to take a moment to ask, “Do I need to push out into this new opportunity?” Do I need to bigger my network, my warehouse? Do I need to more?

People will rush past you. They will fill those spaces you leave, but maybe there will be more rest and more unity in other parts of life, if we don’t seize every day, every opportunity. Maybe we don’t need to be bigger.

Maybe the collector, the entertainer, the homemaker could let a few hours go unfilled. Maybe even longer. Maybe there would be less tension on the finances and the dinner conversation, if we didn’t have to fill everything with something. Enhance everything. Maybe we don’t have to be more.

I know it is counter-cultural, and some may dismiss this idea as an excuse for idleness. No one wants to throw away their potential. No one wants to stand before God with excuses, but God is the One Who said, “To everything there is a season,” and “God makes all things beautiful in their time.”