The summer is off and running. This week begins my second week of CPE and my first week of being with patients. It has been a spectacular experience so far and I am sure I will tell you more and more about it as the summer progresses. I have my first on call night on Wednesday and I'm really looking forward to it. Our CPE group has really clicked already. Oddly, it is a group of five guys. That homogeny does not often happen in summer CPE programs. But it works for us and we get on quite well. Tomorrow we have our end of orientation retreat and after that we start full steam ahead! I can't wait to visit regularly with patients. I'll be working primarily on the CVICU floor, so I'll have plenty of long term patients. Pippi and I have been busy wedding planning and I have been adjusting with ease to my new living arrangements with my aunt and uncle. This summer we are worshipping at the church where we'll be married. It's a great place. Much has been accomplished already and I am excited that things are becoming more normal and are settling down around here so that I can share my life with you on this blog more frequently.
A few weeks ago I turned in my final paper for our first systematic theology class, Creation and the Triune God. In it, I reflected upon the doctrine of the image of God from a feminist perspective. The paper itself was not entirely arduous work, but the questions that have arisen since have merited much of my attention. The root of the Image of God is Genesis 1:27:
So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
The notion underlying this piece of literature is that humans are special. In some way, we are a reflection of God; we are created in God’s image. This is easy to say, harder to understand. Here are some options for trying to make sense out of this foundational religious belief: humanity could possibly be made physically in God’s image. Humanity could also be in God’s image because of our dominion towards creation. On the other hand, God’s image could be found in our capacity to create. We do “god-like” things like build and create. Or, it could be that God’s image is expressed or reflected in us through our relational nature. We are like God because we are defined by and exist in relationship with others. We reach out in love and receive the same. There is beauty and truth in all of these options (some are more truthful than others. Honestly, I buy the last one more than any others). But I would like to add something more.
God’s image is expressed in us in stories. Remembering is a huge part of being human. Each day is a story, and we tell it like it is. Stories start religions and great social movements. Stories have profound creative powers, and, at times have profound destructive powers. Christianity, Judaism, Islam and all other religions are based upon stories. The civil rights movement used stories to make political change. Nazism spread because it told a good story. Individuals’ minds and hearts are changed by good stories. They are a huge part of our relationship with God. Without the story, there would be no faith in God. All of theology is learning how to tell the story of God’s encounter with humanity effectively and in a way that builds society up. Religion itself is story. Each holiday, each Sunday, each Shabbat, each numinous experience is a story. In the end, the story is the only real thing we have to hold on to. It really matters much more that an effective story is told than if something is objectively true. That is not to say that I do not believe God objectively exists. On the contrary, I very much do. All I am saying is that the story of God is what we encounter in the life of faith. It is what changes us, it is what changes the world. It is what makes us human and it is what makes us special. It is part of what it means to be in the image of God. Let us learn to tell it well.
