There are two ideas that come out to me most in this small passage: the fact we are made in God's image and that he created us male and female.
FIRST PART: So we are made in God's image. That means we have to be good. JP2 points out here that the only comparisons in these biblical passages are between God and man. First, that means that we cannot just compare man to other animals. We can only get so far, and any picture would be incomplete.
It's funny... remember how I got really academic a few posts ago and blamed it on my Psychology class? Well, in this same psychology class I just turned in another paper of behaviorism and psychoanalysis. For those of you who don't know what those are... google psychoanalysis. But behaviorism is a science where, for the most part, you observe animals and draw conclusions from this. As I wrote in this paper, it sounds interesting but it does not completely make sense. As JP2 says, if we are made in the image and likeness of God, and we can never completely understand God, doesn't it make sense that we wouldn't understand everything about humanity either much less learn about it from animals.
Also, the Bible does not compare humans to the earth but it does say that we were put in dominion over it. This gives us a degree of superiority that the other animals do not have.
The most important thing, the thing I think most people struggle with, is that we are good. Because God made us, we are good. Yes, there is the fall so there is definitely some not good stuff with humanity. But our bodies are a gift. We need to respect them. How? As a female, the first thing that comes to mind is how we dress. Do our outfits reflect the dignity of our bodies or are they practically "grab here" signs. On the other hand, we need to be careful about how we treat our bodies. What sort of stress do we put them under? What sort of fuel do we put in them? Do we eat too much? Do we eat enough? Do we hurt ourselves. People, we need to respect this wonderful gift that God has given us.
SECOND PART... and I think a lot of extreme left-side feminists would scream at me right now, but at least wait.
JP2 says that the Bible is very objective in this point. It's not gloating or anything... it's just stating a fact that anybody above the age of 2 should know. Boys and girls are different. When I was little (according to my mother) I was in a class when she was pregnant with my little brother. I argued with the teacher because "the only difference between boys and girls is that girls have long hair and boys have short hair".
Haha. So I think we all know that 4-year-old me was not quite right, so what is different? Men tend to be bigger than women, but women have bigger hips. It's true. In 7th grade I learned from a classmate's father that you could tell if the person in an x-ray was male or female based on the hips. Clearly there's some other bodily differences that I just don't feel like going into, and I think we should all start thinking about what that means for gender roles.
One last thing: human beings were created last according to creation story. So God created the animals, created man, and then created woman ( :D ). Okay in all seriousness, that means that we human beings are the high points of God's creation. Even high than the angels. Isn't that amazing?
Dear Lord, I would like to thank you for all your gifts to me! I would like to thank you for my body and my life, as well as making me a (guy or girl depending on the reader's gender). Please continue to bless us as we try to learn more about you through the words of your Servant Bl. John Paul II. Amen
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