2023 Daily Lenten Journey – Day 3

It can be difficult to ‘see the good’ in others. Let’s face it. The daily news, the internet, even our own eyes, see just how far we have fallen as human beings. It can be depressing, but the Church wants us to have hope. The Church wants us to remember that we were created by God for a better purpose than just to walk around drinking fancy coffee.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds:  cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.”  And it was so.  And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”  And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.”  And it was so.  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.  And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.  So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.

Genesis 1.24-2.3

The first three days of Great Lent, we hear about the entire creation by God. There is nothing that exists that He did not create. We can accept that if we are believers. Today we heard the crowning of God’s creation. “Let us make man in our image, after out likeness.” When God created human beings, He added something to us that no other creature in the universe possesses. We alone were created in His image.

Being created in the image of God makes us special, but there is more to our purpose than just to ‘look like’ God. The very next commandment that God gave once everything had been created tells an important story. “Let them have dominion…” What does it mean to have dominion?

Unfortunately, too many people think having dominion over the earth means that we can do whatever we want to the Earth. Nothing can be further from the truth. Having dominion, or lordship, is what makes us special. God is Lord, and we are in His image. That means He wants us to treat the Earth as He treats the Earth. A Lord doesn’t destroy. He builds up. A Lord doesn’t abuse. He protects. If we are to be lords over the Earth, then we must start acting the part.

How does God treat the Earth? For one thing, God uses the Earth to draw other people to Himself. One way we can act like lords is to draw others to Christ, through His creation. The other day I was visiting our parish preschool class. I visit each week and teach them a ‘church word’ that matches their letter of the week. The ‘church word’ for the letter ‘M’ was monk. The picture showed a monk visiting with a bear. The children picked up on this right away and asked why there was a bear in the picture. I shared with them that when we dedicate our lives to God like monks, even the wild animals treat us differently. The children didn’t realize, but I was drawing them closer to God using His creation, in this case a bear.

When Adam and Eve walked the Garden, they lived in harmony with God’s creation. It wasn’t until ‘The Fall’ that things changed, but that’s for another day. For today, it is enough to understand that when we treat the Earth as God would, as holy lords, then even the creation will be kind to us. “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”

Tomorrow, we hear another aspect of our human creation. Tomorrow, we will become living beings. Come back tomorrow for Day 4 of our 2023 Daily Lenten Journey.