"It Was Very Good."

 

Scripture

 Genesis 1: 11-13, 20-27, 31

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day...

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind and the cattle of every kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to 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 wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

²⁷ So God created humans in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them....

 ³¹ God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.  (NRSVUE)

Devotion

 One of the things I enjoy about the daily walk to my local coffee shop is getting the fiber arts store.  In order to help people realize where the store is located, the owner has covered the light pole outside the entrance in a rainbow of crocheted granny squares.  Each time I pass by, that cacophony of colors fills my heart with joy.  "What a amazing diversity of colors our Creator gave us," I think.  "And just look at how beautiful they are together.  It is so very good."

Diversity has always been a key component God good plans for the world.  We are told that in the beginning, our Creator intentionally filled the world with an unfathomable number of different creatures.  Genesis speaks of God creating vegetation of every kind and swarms of various creatures to fill the earth, sea, and sky.  Finally God created humanity in all our diversity...and yet also in God's holy image.  And when God looked around at all that beautiful, teeming, rainbow of a world and called it all very good.

Based on the story of Creation alone, I believer it is safe to say that diversity is a good and holy thing!  Just look at gift that is each unique plant, animal, and color.  Why is it, then, that we so often want everyone to be the same....to be like us?  Perhaps it is our fear of the unknown?  Perhaps we just find things easier when everyone is exactly like us.  Or perhaps, deep down, we are worried that if God could rejoice in people who are very different from us for who and what the are, that we must somehow be less special or worthy of love.

We may be tempted to believe that the world would be better if everyone thought, looked, and acted like we did.  What would the world be like, though, if  we really were all the same?   Think how  dull, bland, and lifeless such uniformity would be.  It would like be living in a world where everything was the same dull color of gray.  That is not the world that God created for us to live in.

And so I say let us give thanks for the beautiful diversity that is part of God's good creation.   W may not always understand the differences in the way people look, act, believe, love, or live.  Some people may confuse us or make us uncomfortable.  But no matter how different someone someone may seem, we can trust that  they are made in God's image.  We are many, and we are one...just as God intended.   And the more we come celebrate what makes each person special as we honor the spark of our Creator alive within them, the more we live in God's love.

I believe that when you put all of humanity together, we are like that light pole covered in granny squares.  For while each of us us lovely and on our own, we are made more beautiful when we are seen as unique parts of a unified whole.   And just as it is with the rest of God's teeming Creation, it is our rainbow of diversity that makes us so very good.

Prayer 

Glorious Creator, we give you thanks for the world you have given us--a world made beautiful by its diversity and made one in your love.  May we praise your name by celebrating each person you have placed on this Earth.  Amen.