Long, long ago, there was nothing.
No sun, no moon, no stars, no earth: nothing at all.
Except the mind of God.
And God started thinking.
As God was thinking God started talking to the Child.
And as they talked, things started happening.
God and the Child were “somewhere”.
Everything else was “nowhere”. Where God is, is sometimes called Heaven.
Heaven is not a place; it is just being with God.
God talked about things to the Child.
As they talked God’s Holy Spirit made these things real.
God’s Spirit works out God’s thoughts.
Then the earth developed oceans, lakes and rivers.
The dry land had mountains and plains with soil deposited by the rivers.
There were volcanoes, earthquakes and violent storms but nothing was alive to suffer.
God and the Child talked about growing and living things.
So the Holy Spirit formed plants and animals, which grew and lived.
Unlike the plants, the animals could run about, but they couldn’t talk.
Finally God and the Child wanted someone to talk with on earth.
So the Spirit made people. People can speak and hear each other.
They can also see and touch each other.
People cannot see, hear or touch God.
But they can speak to God, who always listens carefully.
To hear God’s replies people need to listen deep inside their meditation thoughts.
Plants cannot speak or listen.
And animals cannot speak to God.
But God loves them just the same.
From the very beginning, God protected all creatures in a garden.
The plants provided all the food they needed.
This food grew freely it did not need any cleaning or cooking and was ready to eat.
All the birds, animals, fishes and insects were friendly to each other.
They all looked up to humans who could hear God’s instructions.
In those days God showed the creatures the safe and happy way to live.
The weather was always mild and the morning mists watered the land.
It never rained, and cold winds never blew.
Shelter and clothes were not needed, but people could make these things if they wished.
After many years the people became tired of listening to God.
They wanted to try new foods and new ideas for themselves.
They stopped listening to God and moved away to the edges of the garden.
Away from the middle of the garden the rains started to fall and the winds got colder.
At the edges people had to work harder to grow the food plants and weed the gardens.
Pests and insects began to eat the best food so that food had to be cleaned and cooked.
The animals got wilder as they moved to the edges with the people.
The people started to eat meat and even the animals started to eat each other.
Storms, floods, volcanoes, fires, earthquakes and tsunamis began to destroy the living things.
With the climate change and animals going wild, people formed towns and tribes.
They built farms and houses so that they could feed and support each other.
They also started to fight amongst themselves and went to war with their armies.
The people wrote down what they could remember of God’s instructions.
To do this they had to set up schools so that people could read and write.
God had not planned this way of living, so the people had to make up special rules and laws.
Back in the middle of the garden, people and animals still lived the way God told them.
They lived peaceful lives, but occasionally wild animals or soldiers passed through.
The climate was slowly changing so new ideas were needed.
All the people started to make cities with new laws and rules to keep.
They had to make clothes and work hard to grow food.
All these things made them too busy to pause and hear God.