I’ve never written a blog for Wednesday, Monday is my day.  So, this week I found myself focusing on that strange week day name, Wednesday, not pronounced like it’s spelled.  Wondering where on earth that name originated, I found it comes from the Old English word Wōdnesdæg, meaning “day of Woden.”

And who, I asked, is Woden?  He was the most important God in German paganism, from the pre-Christian religion practiced by Anglo-Saxons.  Under Woden’s supervision the earth and sky were created; the first man and woman were created from an ash tree; and as if that wasn’t enough Woden established the laws of the universe.  I learned that Anglo-Saxons were very resourceful people; everything had its use, and nothing went to waste.

Well, all this happened before Christianity had spread to northern Europe.  Yet people even then looked at their world and figured that someone must have created it.  Someone must have created man and woman.  Someone must have set all this in motion.

Centuries later, we have the benefit of Scripture and the revelation of our Heavenly Father as the creator of our world.  Yet too often we take this earth and sky for granted.  We squander the wealth of this beautiful planet, we pollute, we waste, we deforest, we erode, we deplete.   We fail to look at our earth with the awe due to something created by our Almighty God.  Maybe we have something to learn from our pagan ancestors after all.

Thanks be to the Almighty God of creation; the God who loves you unconditionally.

Judy

This Is My Father’s World, sung by Stephen J. Nasby