Genesis 1:20-2:4; Ps 8 O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth; Mark 7:1-13
We continue to reflect on the beauty of creation. The one thing that should stand out for us as we follow along in the beginning of the book of Genesis is this: God creates not our of necessity but deliberately with good intention. God creates because he wants to create. Creation is a willful undertaking rooted in love.
This of course means that we are not an accident nor does creation happen out of chance. Rather each of us is a thought of God. We are willed, we are are wanted, we are loved. This is the very foundation of our life and the life of all of creation.
Why would we want to erode this foundation by claiming hold to anything else.
Those who say we are accidental are denouncing the the very truth of our being.
Maybe this is why there is such a lack of purposefulness in life. We have lost our origin and thus we have lost our purpose.
Secondly, we hear the talk about the cleansing of hands and vessels and cups, jugs, kettles, and beds in the gospel. Jesus critiques the washing prescribed by the pharisees and scribes.
It is important to note that the ceremonial washing of hands before eating and the cleansing of vessels was meant to bring to the home the sense of what happened in the Temple. It was a way of introducing spirituality to the home and family. The pharisees were trying to highlight that just as God' presence is in the temple so it is in the home and the ritual was meant to deepen the families understanding of this profound truth.
Unfortunately the scribes and pharisees were so focused on the what they lost sight of the why. They were focused on the external rather than the internal. This is what Jesus critiques not the ritual process but the intention of it all.
How often in our own life do we need to refocus? How often do we look at the what and forget the why?
How do we create a deeper experience of God's presence in our homes and families?
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