The Singing Scoutmaster: Birth of the Earth, The

In the beginning, there was only darkness—no Earth, no sky, and no stars. Suddenly, out of this endless void, a thin disc appeared, floating in midair. One side was bright yellow, and the other was pure white. Sitting on top of the disc was a small, bearded man known as the Creator, the One Who Lives Above. He looked out into the blackness, and wherever he cast his gaze, light sprang into being.

When the Creator looked above, light filled the sky. When he looked below, the darkness transformed into a sea of shimmering light. He turned to the east, and yellow streaks of dawn appeared. To the west, the Creator painted the sky with all the colors of the sunset. Clouds of every hue formed, swirling and dancing in the sky. But the Creator knew he needed help to shape this new world.

With a thought, he created three other gods: a little girl, the Sun-God, and a small boy. Together, they began to build what would become the Earth. The Creator rubbed his palms together, and from his sweat, mixed with the essence of the three gods, he formed a small, round, brown ball, no bigger than a bean. The Creator placed the ball in front of him and told the gods to kick it. With each kick, the ball grew and stretched. The Creator told Wind to go inside and blow it up like a great balloon. The ball swelled and expanded, but it was not yet finished.

Then came Tarantula, the trickster of the gods. He spun a strong black cord, attaching one end to the ball, and crawled as fast as he could to the east, pulling the cord with all his might. Next, he spun a blue cord to the south, a yellow cord to the west, and a white cord to the north. With each mighty pull, the brown ball grew bigger and bigger until it expanded to become the Earth itself!

But something was still missing. The land was smooth and bare—no hills, no mountains, no rivers—just an endless stretch of brown plains. The Creator nodded in satisfaction and then began to form the rest of the world. He created towering mountains that reached up to touch the sky, winding rivers that flowed like blue serpents across the land, and forests filled with all manner of trees and plants. Each creation added life and beauty to the Earth.

Once the world was shaped and ready, the Creator and the gods brought forth the animals, birds, and all the creatures that roam the Earth today. They filled the sky with stars and painted the sun to rise and set, giving warmth and light to their new world. With the Earth finally complete, the Creator smiled, knowing he had fashioned a place where life could grow and thrive.

And so, from a small, brown ball and the efforts of the gods, our world came into being—born out of darkness into the light. Whenever you see the sunrise in the east or the colors of the sunset in the west, remember that they are the Creator's first brushstrokes on the canvas of our world.