Tuesday 30 October 2012

Background

Today's passage comes from the verybeginning of the Bible, the first of two accounts of the origins ofeverything. However closely (or not) we think this story resemblesthe account offered to us by science we must remember that'science', as we understand it today, simply did not exist whenthese words were written. It is not appropriate, therefore, toargue for or against it on 'scientific' grounds. This story hadother purposes.

One of these other purposes can bedetected in the refrain "and God saw that it was good". Over thecenturies some have sought to uproot us from our physical earthlyorigins and plant us in an ethereal domain of 'spirit'. 'Earth andearthly things are hazardous,' they warn, 'and should be avoided asmuch as possible.' This refrain proclaims a different insight, loudand clear: God made everything, and he found it good.

But we too are made in God's image.Does that mean we are, every one of us, good - as good as God madeus to be? Are we all equally able to see God's image in each otherand in ourselves? Are we all equally capable of seeing God'screation as good, or we blinded by the meagreness or the lavishnessof our own circumstances.

There has long been a cherished strandof Christian thought which commends detachment from our immediatecircumstances as a way of being more open to God. This is hard ifour particular circumstances completely dominate our field ofvision. It might help if we were to become more aware of thedifferent circumstances in which others find themselves.

To Ponder

• Would you agree with God's judgement that "it was good"?

• Have you known extremes of wealth or poverty yourself or inother people? What might we mean by 'detachment' in suchsituations? To what extent is it possible to be detached and yetfully involved in the life of the community?