Easter Life & Human Dignity
I’d like to begin this morning with Genesis. Our genesis, humanity’s beginnings. In Genesis 2, the 2 nd description of our creation, God is said to have breathed life, ruach, divine spirit, into the lump of divine-like clay we humans once were. That breath of life enlivened us, gave us life, a life infused with God’s own breath. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, there is a tradition known as iconography. The faithful venerate painted icons of Christ, Mary, the saints. This veneration of icons is rooted in the belief that the spirit of the depicted figures, such as Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints, somehow breathes through their icons; these channels of divine grace and living presence enable believers to commune with the holy figures they depict. Well, in Genesis 2, the idea is that we, each human being, is an icon of God. God’s spirit breathes life in us and through us. Now, don’t get me wrong, that the life of God breathes in us doesn’t make us God. Not at all. No...