Importance: 10%
The Big Idea
From the creation account it seems clear that light and water are the foundational building blocks of the world. Which seems to suggest that the way light and water are handled around us make a bigger impact on the order of life than we tend to think about. Light ends up getting handled very haphazardly now a days as well as water being thrown around as well
This comes quite simply from the creation of light on day one and the separation of the waters on day two. Interestingly if we stick with treating things in day order as dependent on the day before that means land and vegetation are third order factors after light and water. I think this is interesting because it almost seems backwards to the way we normally treat our environment. The things we usually think of and plan for and care about the most is our land and the things we grow on it (I.e. farming, landscaping, etc.) but this suggest that the way light and water function and are treated in the space around us matters more.
Not only that but it is only after the basic physical ordering and layout of space that the planetary bodies are made on day four. Which seems to suggest that the passing and ordering of time which obviously important comes after the physical ordering of the world around us.
Using all the observations above, We can make a simple ordered list of environmental elements from most important like this:
- Light
- Water and sky
- Land and Vegitation
- Planetary Rhythms (i.e. seasons, days, years, or generally time)
This also shows a beautiful and interwoven relationship between time and space with morning and evening being the rhythm that ties all of the unfolding of the physical creation together.
These are related ideas: Models of Human Rhythms My Thoughts on Cosmology Basic Philosophies of Community Rhythm and Project Lifecycle