Greed Or Gratitude

God said, “Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.” And so it happened: God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying, “Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth.” Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day.

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.” And so it happened: God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. God saw how good it was. 

Then God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.” God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.”

God also said: “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food.” And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation. Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation. (Genesis 1:20 – 2:4)

Much has been made of this reading from Genesis.  Some have said it gives humans – made in the image and likeness of God – the right to exploit the earth without care for the consequences.  We are to have dominion over all creatures.

Some have said all the happenings before the seventh day are the prelude to the real meaning of Genesis – the seventh day of rest and the need to worship God and give thanks for all God’s wonders with everything being very good.

The first belief is based on greed, but the second on gratitude.  Consider Pope Francis conclusion expressed in his 2020 book “Let Us Dream: The Path To A Better Future.”

“Just as a people come to an awareness of its shared dignity in times of struggle, in war and hardship, so, too, a people can forget that awareness.  A people can become oblivious to its own history.  In times of peace and prosperity there is always the risk that the people might dissolve into a mere mass, with no unifying principle to bind them. 

When this happens, the center lives at the expense of the margins, people divide into competing tribes, and the exploited and disrespected might burn with resentment at the injustices.  Rather than thinking of ourselves as members of a people, we have competition for dominance, turning contrapositions into contradictions.  Because, in these circumstances, the people no longer see the natural world as their inheritance to be nurtured, the powerful seize and extract all they can from it, while putting nothing back.  Indifference, egotism, a culture of complacent well-being, and deep divisions within society, spilling out into violence – all these are signs that a people has lost awareness of its dignity.  It has ceased to believe in itself.”

Genesis and Pope Francis compel us to ask ourselves if we have become a mere mass with no unifying principle to bind us.  Are we now contradictions?  Do we no longer see the natural world as our inheritance to be nurtured?  Are we greedy, or are we grateful?  Have we become violent evidenced in our Capitol on January 6?  Our future as a people depends on how we truthfully answer these questions.

Deacon David Pierce