I sensed a good vibe among family members gathered around our deck dining table on Saturday. We live in a man-made forest clearing, surrounded by flora and fauna—including snakes, toads, blue-tailed skinks, and fireflies.

“If you were a firefly, what color would you want your light to be?” my son asked our granddaughter—and the rest of us. 

“Light blue,” she replied—she was wearing a light blue shirt. My son chose orange—his favorite since childhood—because most people don’t like orange and he felt sorry for it. I said dark blue, the color of my shirt; the others, as I recall, said the natural yellow was fine.

A good vibe.

Vibe in Creation

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3 NIV

Genesis 1:1-3 outlines how God brought the universe into existence from nothing. Initially, the earth was unformed, chaotic, empty, covered in darkness, as stated in verse 1. Verse 2 sets the stage for verse 3, God’s transformative work. Scientists and even atheists agree: the universe had a definite starting point. Believers know that all existence is from God, and His omnipotence existed before time and matter.

 “Let there be light.” In the sunrise, I hear the vibration of those words, God’s first, recorded in the Bible. Light, the beginning of order, beauty, and life overcoming darkness and emptiness. Creation as an act of divine command, not accidental but a deliberate act spoken into reality.

The vibrating sound of God – a very good vibe.

Vibe in the Word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 NIV

John 1:1—one of my favorite verses in the Bible—echoes the passage from Genesis. The word, Logos, Christ, eternal and divine, always existed as God, in the beginning, before the universe existed. The Word (the Son) was with God in perfect communion. Jesus was divine, not just a representative of God sent to earth, becoming flesh to live among humanity, but exactly the same divine essence as our Creator. 

The Word was God, the voice that sustains the universe – a mysterious vibe.

Vibe in worship

Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Psalm 150 NIV

Psalm 150, the last in the Book of Psalms, is a hymn of praise and a guide to worship. Where? In his sanctuary and in His mighty heavens. Why? In response to His mighty acts to sustain and rescue and to His excellent greatness. How? Joyfully, loud worship, using orchestral instruments—shofar, harp, lyre, tambourine, strings, flutes, cymbals—and dance. Who? Everything that has breath, as with our worship team leading the congregation, an all-inclusive invitation so that no part of creation is left out.

Worship, an excellent vibe.

Back to the firefly conversation. 

“Only male fireflies blink,” Keith said. “It’s a mating vibe to attract female fireflies on the ground looking up, watching.”

My son’s follow-up question to our granddaughter: “Which would you like to be, a blinker or a watcher?”

“A girl, watching the lights,” she said. 

Let there be light. Vibe. Good, good, good, good vibrations.

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