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Seeing isn’t believing; believing is seeing. Genesis 1:27 begins, “So God created mankind in his own image…” The word “image” often prompts thoughts of sight, a reflection of what we can see, what something physically looks like. Image, though, is multi-sensory, and, as is with God, extra-sensory.
Look at Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they my rule over this fish in the sea and the birds in the sky…” Why did God create us in his likeness? “…so that they may rule over…” God gives us a definite, specific reason. God has created us with the capacity to rule. What is it that we need to rule? Compassion. Love. Forgiveness. Understanding. Empathy. Insight. Wisdom. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. That is the image of God! Yes, the Fruits of the Holy Spirit!
Possession of these fruits and the manifested behaviors of these fruits is what I mean by “extra-sensory.” We need to see all that to “rule” over his creation, so he made us in his image in order for us to do just that. In Genesis 1:26, God tells us what he plans to do. In Genesis 1:27, he tells us what he did. He made mankind in his image – that is so important that it is repeated: “…in the image of God he created them…,” followed by the independent clause, “…male and female he created them.” It seems God’s image is more about the substance of our “selves” and, while still very important, less about physical form. We all need to aspire to living our lives as God’s image.
Believing is seeing. Unfortunately, too many do see their capacity and end up leading lives, leading communities, leading corporations, leading countries in ways that destroy God’s creation.
Dean P. Johnson is in the Diaconate Candidacy Program for the Diocese of Camden and is a member of Mary Mother of Mercy Parish, both in New Jersey. He holds a BA in English and an MA in Writing both from Rowan University. He has had essays published in newspapers across the country including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Examiner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Houston Chronicle, Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger, Courier Post (Southern NJ), and Philadelphia Inquirer among many others. He also has had creative nonfiction, short stories and poetry appear in several literary magazines including Chronogram, Foundling Review, JMWW Journal, ArtWord Quarterly, Wolf Head Quarterly, Sylvia, Circle Magazine and The Fourth River among several others.
His first novel, MOONDREAMS, and two collections of essays, CONFESSIONS OF A FRUITCAKE CONVERT and THEY DON’T CALL IT A NUMBER TWO FOR NOTHING, are available as ebooks on Kindle. His poetry chapbook, Pyramids in Nature, is currently out of print.
Dean also has pieces in several books including The Pressures of Teaching (Kaplan), Viewpoints (Wadsworth), and Writing the Critical Essay: Smoking (Greenhaven).
Dean P. Johnson is an administrator and teacher of English at Camden Academy Charter High School in Camden, NJ and is an adjunct professor of writing at Rowan University and Camden County College. Dean lives in New Jersey with his wife of 25 years and their five children along with a Basset hound and cat all of whom provide an endless parade of writing material.
Read more at
http://catholicstarherald.org/putting-the-saints-to-work-on-a-regular-basis
