Tuesday 26 September 2017

Psalm: Psalm 89:19-37

Background

Today's passage continues the first of two accounts of theorigins of everything. However closely (or not) we think this storyresembles the account offered to us by science we must rememberthat 'science', as we understand it today, simply did not existwhen these 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 be detected in the refrain "andGod saw that it was good" in . Over the centuries some have soughtto uproot us from our physical earthly origins and plant us in anethereal domain of 'spirit'. 'Earth and earthly things arehazardous,' they warn, 'and should be avoided as much as possible.'This refrain proclaims a different insight, loud and clear: Godmade everything, and he found it good.

But we too are made in God's image. Does that mean we are, everyone of us, good - as good as God made us to be? Are we all equallyable to see God's image in each other and in ourselves? Are we allequally capable of seeing God's creation as good, or we blinded bythe meagreness or the lavishness of our own circumstances.

There has long been a cherished strand of Christian thoughtwhich commends detachment from our immediate circumstances as a wayof being more open to God. This is hard if our particularcircumstances completely dominate our field of vision. It mighthelp if we were to become more aware of the different circumstancesin 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?