A Vision Lost

Genesis 34

The answer to the question in verse 31 is, obviously, “no.” But the answer is also “no” to the reaction. Not far beneath the surface is the treatment of a person as property. The passage records an unraveling of order through retribution. There is no positive message offered here except by implication. And it it begins to set out the challenge of a people settling in a land where there will be conflicting visions and practices. It is part of a larger story, in which positive answers will come, and the basic answer has already been given (Genesis 1).

Last night a certain nine year old I know asked if we (humans) are mammals. When I said yes he then asked if dogs are mammals. When he heard the answer to that he said, “So if someone hurts a dog they’re really hurting us, too.”

How is it most of us lose that sense of affinity with all living creatures? If we truly had that with one another, we would be so offended and abhorred at the very thought of harming or abusing another it would be considered a community catastrophe if one person were so treated. I guess we recognize that in that if I were to kill someone or steal from someone it is the crown, not the individual or family, who takes up measures to ensure I won’t do that again. We have “correctional” services. We have victims’ services for the purpose of bringing healing where such a rupture takes place. In a larger field, we recognize “crimes against humanity” when there is genocide.

But the measures we take to “correct” things are extremely problematic. Recent events in Iraq are a cast in point.

Wouldn’t it be better if we all just had the spirit of that nine year old?

Prayer:
Lord, your Word begins with such a gorgeous picture of creation. Renew us with the power of that vision. Through Christ, the first born of a new Creation. Amen.