Word to the Wise
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 - Tuesday in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 1:20—2:4a and Mark 7:1-13]God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth. God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food.... And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. [Genesis]
The great French philosopher, Voltaire, once wrote 'In the beginning God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favor ever since.' The 6th day creation of man and woman in the "image of God" has been the subject of debate since it was first spoken and then written! Does it mean that human beings have exactly the same power of God over creation? Or does it mean that God has entrusted humankind with a stewardship over creation for which humankind will be held accountable? This question covers not only the environment but matters of life and death in bioethics and political decision-making as well. Are we accountable to God or are we only accountable to human legislation and voters? The range of concerns is enormous, from abortion to migration to climate change to gun control to gender issues, etc. - you-name-it!!! We humans are forever trying to fashion God in our own image in order to satisfy our particular wants. We will see this temptation at work in the "second creation story" on Wednesday and Thursday.
Those who take God's power in their own hands may find themselves in the predicament of the "sorcerer's apprentice," so wonderfully portrayed in Walt Disney's Fantasia where Mickey Mouse, as the apprentice, in the absence of the great wizard, looks for a way to ease his duties by stealing a spell from the wizard's book and casting a spell on a broom to bring water to fill the wizard's big kettle. The spell works but Mickey can't make the broom stop. He tries to smash the broom but the pieces become more brooms carrying water!! A great mess ensues which the wizard finds on his return and sweeps it all away and gives Mickey a zap in the rear for his troubles. If we take God's power in our own hands for our own purposes, we may find ourselves in the same predicament as the sorcerer's apprentice and we shouldn't be surprised if God is not amused! AMEN