Jul 19 (edited) • General discussion
Who Am I?
Returning to the Beginning
"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion...'" — Genesis 1:26
If I asked you one simple question...
Who are you?
How would you answer?
Perhaps you would tell me your name.
Your profession.
Your nationality.
Your beliefs.
Your family.
Your achievements.
But what if none of those things were your deepest identity?
What if Genesis begins, not by telling us what to do, but by reminding us who we are?
Before we begin this journey together, I'd like to share the lens through which I engage Scripture.
Some people choose to read Scripture primarily as literal history.
Others engage it through historical, cultural, or theological study.
I deeply respect that people approach these sacred texts in different ways.
For these reflections, however, I choose to engage Scripture symbolically and inwardly because Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God as being within, Paul describes believers as God's temple, and John reveals that God is light.
My purpose is not to persuade everyone to adopt this approach.
My invitation is simply to explore it with me and discover what it reveals about the nature and character of God and how it calls us into embodiment.
In the Image
The opening chapter of Genesis does not begin with humanity's failure.
It begins with humanity's identity.
"Let us make man in our image..."
If the Source is love...
then the image reflects love.
If the Source is light...
then the image reflects light.
If the Source is life...
then the image reflects life.
Identity comes before responsibility.
Being comes before doing.
Genesis does not first ask,
"What should humanity accomplish?"
It first answers,
"Who is humanity?"
After Our Likeness
Image speaks of reflection.
Likeness speaks of character.
The invitation is not merely to resemble the Source outwardly.
It is to embody the nature of the Source inwardly.
Throughout this community, we'll keep returning to one simple question:
Does this understanding help us reflect the nature and character of the Source more fully?
If it does, then we are moving toward likeness.
Let Them Have Dominion
The next words are equally important.
"Let them have dominion..."
Dominion is often misunderstood as permission to dominate.
Within the symbolic path we are exploring, dominion begins with stewardship.
Before we can influence the world around us, we are invited to govern the world within us.
Can love govern fear?
Can wisdom govern impulse?
Can compassion govern judgment?
Can truth govern illusion?
The greatest dominion begins within.
When our inner life is rightly ordered, our outer life naturally begins to reflect that order.
Why Are We Here?
Perhaps one of the deepest questions we can ask is:
Why do I exist?
Within this symbolic journey, the answer is beautifully simple.
We are here to reflect the nature and character of the Source.
To become living expressions of love.
To embody truth.
To cultivate wisdom.
To bring light wherever darkness has obscured understanding.
Our purpose is not merely to know about the Source.
Our purpose is to reflect the Source.
Tending the Garden
As we continue this journey together, we'll often return to another image from Genesis:
The garden.
A garden is cultivated.
It is tended.
It is pruned.
It is nourished.
Truth is much the same.
Understanding deepens through continual reflection.
Assumptions are gently pruned away.
Wisdom grows season after season.
Here in the Sacred Texts Within Collective, I think of our community as a shared garden.
Together, we return to Scripture.
Together, we ask better questions.
Together, we cultivate understanding.
Not to win arguments.
But to bear fruit.
When I read these words,
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion..."
this is what awakens in me.
I don't hear a conversation about creating a species.
I hear a reminder of identity.
I hear the Source saying,
Remember who you are.
You are not an accident.
You are not separated from your Origin.
You were created to reflect the nature and character of the Source.
When I read,
"In our image..."
I remember that I am invited to embody love.
To embody truth.
To embody wisdom.
To embody compassion.
To become a living reflection of the One from whom all life flows.
When I read,
"After our likeness..."
I don't simply think about resemblance.
I think about character.
Every day becomes an invitation to ask:
Am I reflecting my Source today?
When I read,
"Let them have dominion..."
I no longer think first about ruling over the world.
What awakens in me is the call to govern my own inner life.
Can love govern my fear?
Can truth govern my assumptions?
Can wisdom govern my reactions?
Can compassion govern my relationships?
Because I have found that the greatest dominion begins within.
And perhaps the deepest realization of all...
I believe we are here to cultivate the garden entrusted to us.
To keep returning to truth.
To keep pruning what no longer bears fruit.
To keep growing.
To keep reflecting.
To keep becoming.
That...
is what awakens in me.
Now I'd love to hear from you.
When you read these words,
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..."
What awakens in you?
Not necessarily what you've been taught.
Not what someone else believes.
Just...
What comes alive within you when you quietly sit with these words?
There are no right or wrong reflections here.
This is a community of thoughtful exploration.
I'm looking forward to reading what awakens in each of you.
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Who Am I?
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