What is the first “not good” thing that God discovered in the creation of the world?
As you know, there are two stories of creation in the book of genesis. The first is the one we most often think about – the 6 days of creation and the day of rest at the end. And, like a refrain to each of those days we hear the words: And God saw that it was good.” It was Good. It was Good. It was Good. It was VERY GOOD. And you can hear the angel chorus and the heavenly hosts all humming along, everything in harmony. But then comes that interesting line in this second story of creation, where the order of things are kind of reversed – man is created, then the world and the rest of the good things on the planet. In this story, you can kind of picture God sitting on the front porch, surveying everything created to this point, smoking a pipe, and sipping a fine glass of wine. And as God sees the adam, the earth being there, playing in the midst of the wonders of all his creation, he pauses. He looks closer. Then he says: It is NOT GOOD for the man to be alone.
You can almost hear the wheels of heaven screeching to a halt. “Not Good? God said: Not Good!” Oh, Oh, that can’t be good.” The three archangels spring into immediate action. Gabriel, the heavenly messenger, cries out: “Stop the Presses – “Something is NOT GOOD on earth.” Michael, immediately sensing threat, draws his sword in protective readiness. Raphael, God’s remedy, readies his doctor’s bags of tools and medicines. In these great mythic stories which teach us about who we are, who God is, and where we fit in this world, we hear that haunting judgment of God: It is NOT GOOD for the earth being, the adam, to be alone.
What do you make of that line? Are priests crazy for living alone? Are single people doomed to a life of ‘not good’ forever? What about married couples that live in the same house, yet are grinding out their lives and each others souls as if they were finishing a prison sentence instead of enjoying the giving and loving hearts of their beloved? What about the widow or widower? This being alone, this first thing mentioned as being NOT GOOD in all of creation… what do you do with that?
Perhaps it is helpful to look at what God does with his observation. He problem solves. He realizes there is an issue so He sets out to fix it. He fashions MORE of his GOOD creation – and brings them to the adam to name. But it isn’t until he brings him one ‘taken from his side’ –one to stand alongside him as his equal that he finds a suitable PARTNER. And listen to the adam’s response. “This one at last is like me – strong like me – “bone from bone”, and weak like me – “flesh from flesh.” In God’s plan, God wired us for this mutuality, he destined for us to live in relationship, not just with him, but with each other and with creation. This is God’s dream for us, to create a world of shared vulnerability and strength that we experience in ALL of our relationships – with God, with each other as human beings, and with this creation. And it is why Jesus quotes Genesis when he speaks about divorce – the dream, the goal, the vision, even if it doesn’t always work out in reality – is always about union, always about relationship, always about connection.
So, how are you doing with that? If it is true that it is indeed not good for anyone to be alone – then how connected are you these days SOMEWHERE? Marriage does not guarantee this connection. Nor does the single life or celibate life prohibit it. In fact, given the countless things at all our disposals that we can distract ourselves with as human beings – from the TV to the internet to sports to hobbies to exercise to parenting – I think that married people have to be every bit as intentional as I do as a priest to make sure they are connected in ways that are life giving.
So this week, let’s take a journey into the connections that are real and sustaining and life giving. And whether that is with a friend over a cup of coffee, or that quiet touch between couples who have been married for so long that words are not as important, or a holy hour spent in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, or going out on a date with our spouse during the ‘parent as chauffeur years’– enjoy God’s solution to the only thing he found ‘not good’ in all his creation – enjoy those bonds of connection we weave in our prayer and that we create in our marriages and friendships. Enjoy God’s creative design to make sure you don’t live alone – the friends and family and parish community that surrounds you, and the Son He sent among us who gives himself to us upon this altar so that we are never alone.