Devotion • July 29
Today’s Scripture Reading
Genesis 2:18–24
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner.
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. (NRSV)
Reflection
Bam! Right off I want to talk to someone’s supervisor about this passage. It’s been used to consign women to a secondary position in society and to hold male-female pairings as the only biblically ordained relationships. I wonder why those two ideas are considered immutable but others within this passage are not?
Did the first human really name all of the birds? Is that possible? Did they know about the Blue-footed Booby and the Helmeted Hornbill (Google that bird!)? Did the first human really identify the Angus, Hereford, Gelbvieh, Brahman, and the hundreds of other types of cattle? Why don’t we interrogate that?! Why don’t people protest and pass laws about all the animal names that are not biblical? It’s like someone has something to be gained by holding onto the simplistic, literal understanding of this passage.
It’s easy to do this, right? We pull one part of the Bible that suits us, and we hold onto it with all of our strength. This is one of the reasons it’s important to study scripture in community — especially a diverse community. I read this passage one way and there are a million other ways to read it — just ask my sisters and brothers from other parts of the country, world, or even Cook County. We read and study together, because if we don’t we might be tempted to think our understanding of God is the only way to understand God.
God says that it’s not good for us to be alone. We need relationships — all sorts of relationships — not just the ones listed in this passage. And we know that things need names — if only so we can yell, “Duck! There’s a Helmeted Hornbill flying right at you!”
Prayer
God, don’t let me be so foolish that I think my understanding of your Word is the only understanding. Open my heart to a diverse community so that I can more fully know you. Give us strength to interrogate any idea that only benefits some. Amen.
Written by Andrea Denney, Executive Director of Operational Ministries
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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