"In the beginning..then God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.' God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying to them: 'Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth'". (Genesis 1: 26-28)
There are two creation stories in Holy Scripture. The first, the one just quoted, gives us a visual picture of God in dialogue with other(s) as He creates "man", consisting of male and female beings. Within this version we are given the image of God as containing the infinite goodness of both male and female and His desire to create both as co-stewards of all the rest of His creation. It is a version of equality, respect, dignity, and purpose; this purpose being to go forth, multiply, and oversee the use of all other created things.
The second creation story has many similarities but within this story we see the male, Adam, created first and given all these other creatures as gift from God; none, of course, fulfilling his needs. First we are left wondering why our infinite, all-seeing, God would not have known that Adam was in need of Eve, or did He? He then gives us the rest of the story by taking from Adam and using from him his rib to create Eve. Certainly the first version has shown us that God needed nothing from Adam and yet we have this second version giving us the impression that somehow by taking from Adam he and Eve had a "natural" physical connection to one another. Both were made in God's image and both, as the story of human will continues, are sinful in their longing for greatness.
As I do some theological research on how women have been viewed since the beginning of historical perspectives I find that the viewing tends to go in one of two directions and may even merge on occasion. The first view being that of "virgin"; a woman made pure and waiting to be chosen by a man so that she can further journey into the fulfillment of her life as wife and mother. The second view is that of "fallen woman" or "temptress" who uses her body and sensual nature to lure a man from his supposed steadfast ways to enter into some form of sinful behavior. Or we can have a third view which is either the pure woman giving into her sinful, lustful, desires, or the sinful woman discovering the grace of God and giving up her sensual behaviors and living out the rest of her life doing good works.
For me, and I am assuming most women because there are libraries filled with writings from women who claim this is not a true picture of who they are as human beings created in the likeness of God, I can witness to the reality that none of these scenarios are the scenario of my life. I am a complex human being whose faith has brought me the gift of God's grace and enlightened me to who I am as authentically created and humbling me as I see the truth of my sinfulness. I can honestly say today that completely pure and completely sinful is not it. None of the women I have known in my life fit within the compartments that we have had culturally created for us. It leaves me wondering how we can have so many women's spirits within the church and the world be presented so wrongly and yet there is not a rebellion welling up within our very beings against the sinfulness of presenting us as something we are not. And not only that but we en-culturate our young daughters and grand daughters into this same church and world by once again presenting to them the categories of their existence instead of asking them who their spirits are, what gifts they have been given, and what God wants from their lives. May God forgive us for this. I say that because there is no man, no other creature, who forces us to do this. It is our sin as mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend.
So, the question becomes how do we change this? How do we open wide the doors of our hearts, the church and the world to who our spirits truly are? Well, we know that Pope Francis, bless his heart, has put out a calling forth of knowledge and by doing this he knows that if us women ask the Holy Spirit to guide our dialogue into the truth of our dignity, that this truth will come forth in the form of self-knowledge and wisdom. But the choice is ours. The choice is always ours to move closer towards God or move further from Him.
I read once that when women were motivated and demanding the right to vote that there was conversation about how women would now have to be accountable to God for their own sins. Apparently before this time this idea of being taken care of by men also held within it that men were somehow responsible for the sins of their women. So, whether as threat or whether as reviewal of truth women were put on notice and men relieved of am untrue burden.
So, on that note, I ask you "Who are you in the Spirit of Christ? What makes your spirit soar with joy and love? What makes your spirit suffer and fall into the "pit" of the psalms? What happens to you when you are in relationship with the men in your life or other women? What has happened to your curiosity about each other?" Maybe that was the whole point of having two creation stories...that women and men being confused because the way women are presented and have been mistreated throughout history does not fit the truth of their dignity as created in the image of God and so we, with our finite minds, must turn to God in reflection and prayer to open up our understanding through the light of His grace for us to know the truth; we must turn to Him and desire His Spirit to enlighten our spirit.
Could anything be so beautiful in our human lives as the Spirit of our God present to the spirit of our created dignity so that we are truly known and loved? Are we not all desirous of a family, a church and a world in which others are curious about our spirits and who we are in the gifts and special graces given to us and to have a community of spirits, male and female co-stewards moving forward in life, ever willing to show compassionate love for one another and in this be joyful when we are joyful and sorrowful when we are sorrowful. Is it our life before sin? Maybe. Our Scripture and Tradition, the two fonts of God's revelation to us, tell us that even though we may not reach the perfection present on the day of creation we can certainly move closer to its fruitfulness through being in dignified relationship with one another. So, go forth. woman. In the very likeness of God, go forth.
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