Saturday, 3/4Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.’ Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. Human relationship and intimacy are part of life from the beginning. That’s such an important witness of the Genesis story. Human beings dwell in love, relationship and community. Thus is the creation. Notice that the second human being is not created in an isolated and independent way. Rather there is the closest relationship possible, sharing flesh and being one with the other. It is possible to read this story in a number of different ways, and so it has been through the history of religious tradition. The question for this Lent is this. What did these two beings discover? What is the fundamental and foundational discovery of our relationships as human beings? In actuality, they discovered each other and they discovered that they were not meant to be alone or isolated. Rather, in the abundance of God’s creative gifts, there is relationship, intimacy, and connection. That is true for us as well. These are continuing creative gifts for us as human beings. We are blessed with relationship, intimacy, and connection. Isolation and disconnection actually are contrary to these innate and wonderful gifts. We know that in our own lives. We experience that in our own living. And… when we discover such intimacy and relationship, we know that God is truly in the midst of it all. Where do you experience creative intimacy and relationship in your life? How do you see these as gifts of God? What do you do to remain aware of and nurture them? Today's |