Another Look at Creation

If your beliefs consist of God being the Creator, this fact can open up a whole world of possibilities-- including the potential to see yourself, other people, and the world in what may be an entirely different manner. Even if you do not share this belief, you can still gain something very positive from this perspective.

One of our views is that in creation there was a specific reason for everything. If God had chosen to do so, He could have populated the entire earth; but instead, the first focus was on one human being. This person was one individual; and this person was created whole. One way that we look at this is that it is meant to be relevant to all people, at all points in time.

First, we are taught that God's decision to create one person is to illustrate the value of each individual human being, and the equality of all human beings. Many people have difficulty with either or both of these points-- recognizing the value in themselves, and recognizing equal value in all others. So many go through life feeling, even fully believing, that they are somehow "less" than others; and whether such a mindset is the result of inadequate parenting, messages from peers, or the popular media, it is one of the most self-destructive mindsets that a person can have, for it not only colors the way one feels about himself, it also affects how he relates to other people and his place in the world.

Equally destructive is attempting to measure another person's value as a human being on what he "has," or what he "does," rather than who he is. If you can begin to see everyone from the homeless drug addict to your obnoxious neighbor to the President of the United States as having the same value as the original human being-- no one "less" or "more" or "different"-- it will go a long way in creating the types of community and society in which everyone would be able to live, rather than merely exist.

Second, the first human being was created whole. So were you. Each person is the sum-total of his or her life experiences. If you are one of the many who has experienced serious hardships or traumas, you have the knowledge of what you need to do to overcome the problems-- or you can allow them to "take away" your life by treating yourself as a "work-in-progress." Even if you have some type of disability which has no solution, you have a choice-- you can either allow it to define who you are, or you can reach as far as your limitations will extend.

In viewing the original creation in this manner, every person's life can be enriched. You are God's gift to the world... and your life is God's gift to you.