Made in the image of God, we are called to play out the image of God in our lives.
How far removed our society seems to be from our Judeo-Christian heritage. Even Judeo-Christians, so secularized by our culture, seem not fully conscious of their rich tradition. Oh I know there have been many assaults upon our Creed, our theology, our faith – especially over the past three centuries – called the “Enlightenment” by many. And indeed we have been enlightened in so many ways by the Age of Reason, of Science, by questioning once hard and fast beliefs – if only, I hope, to release the dynamic truth hard and fast beliefs often tend to petrify – turn to stone.
One consequence of our Creed becoming like something written in stone – as in the tablets Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai – is our forgetfulness that our Creed, our whole religious tradition is a drama into which we are summoned from the comfort of our pews to live out on the stage of this world every day of our lives. It’s not something written in stone – in Roman numerals. Our Creed is a script (as in Scripture) to be learned and played out the way all actors study and play out their roles on stages, in films, in song and story. And the role assigned to us? It is to present to the world an image of God in our thought, deeds, imagination, lifestyle. Therein we find the basic meaning of our lives – replicating the image of God, the nature of God on the stage of our world – at home, at work, in society, in creative ways; the nature of God being Love, Mercy, Grace. Talk about a choice, leading role! The meaning of our lives is to leave the world ever more a divine place to live in, a heaven on earth
What was it that Moses brought down from God at Mt. Sinai? You say the ten commandments, a highly legal document. “Thou shalt . . . and thou shalt . . .” Thou shalt avoid vain idols, honor your parents, keep time holy by observing the Sabbath; don’t kill, don’t intrude on the sacred relation of another couple, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t be greedy. Every one of these can be turned into a positive: find the true god, be kind, respect others’ relationships, respect the property of others, always tell the truth. What do we have here? As I said, a script handed down by God, a series of actions for us to play out over our lives by which we reveal what God is like, reveal within our own lives God’s living image in everything we do.
The New Testament takes a different approach. Jesus doesn’t hand us a Law: tablets of stone with our script inscribed in do’s and don’ts. He presents us with a series of dramatic acts to follow – in parables, like that of the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son or the episode with the Samaritan woman at the well . . . lots of stellar parts for anyone with ambitions to become a star, another Christ, a clear image of our Creator. But in our forgetfulness of this quality of our Creed, its drama, its summons (as when Jesus says, “Come, follow me!”) to rise from our pews and come on stage, the stage of the world, of the Church and fascinate the bored audiences of today – we leave so many people unaware of such a summons or merely longing to play a role in something so meaningful, so fulfilling – young people, for instance.
And I can’t help thinking in this context of this latest shoot out in Santa Barbara done by a guy who convinced himself he was left out, no role to play, to the point of rage, insanity, a need to image not God but Hell itself – which is not an isolated trend in a world where the value of our Creed, our rich tradition is so petrified, so forgotten, unknown – while, aside from all the “preventive techniques” conjured up after such incidents, our Creed pulsates with such power to heal, to give meaning to lives, to counter human despair and rage. When shall we seriously begin auditioning?