The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. Ecclesiastes 1:5-7, niv
The cycles of the earth, which King Solomon described so eloquently in the book of Ecclesiastes more than three thousand years ago, are among its most intriguing characteristics. All of creation is one unified body breathing in and breathing out, little systems connected to bigger systems connected to bigger and bigger systems. Each is complete in itself but meaningless apart from its relationship to the others. From subatomic systems to solar systems, they work together in perfect harmony, born of one Creator in Christ and relying upon the sustaining power of His constant will for their minute-to-minute existence. “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17, nasb). “Ebb and Flow” is about the repeating cycles in nature that we live with every day and often take for granted: the unending play of shadow and light, the changing of the seasons, the endless journey of water, and the rising and setting of the sun. Its focus is the systems of perpetual motion that bind the multifaceted art of God into one holistic creation. Ever changing, it never changes. “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:11, niv). And He has said, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).