Friday after Epiphany
(I John 5:5-13)
In one of his books Stephen Jay Gould, the Harvard evolutionist, opines that humans may not be as superior as we think. He acknowledges that the human brain has unequaled mental powers, but offers as a comparable marvel the ability of certain bacteria to withstand temperatures of several thousands degrees. And so the academic debate rages: are we merely first cousins to other living things, with no kind of life having an essential priority? Or are humans innately superior to all other kinds of earthly creatures?
Christians should have no doubt about the answer. We believe not only that we have been created in the image of God, the creator, but also God has deigned to take on our flesh in Jesus Christ. This second truth has especially vaulted us far beyond all other plants and animals. Now humanness is no longer associated with fallibility but more appropriately with decency, respect, and love. This is the import of Christmas, the feast that still commands our attention, two weeks after its celebration.
Although humans are capable of the heights of heaven, we often act more like starving dogs fighting over food. Sin has so tarnished our image of ourselves that some of us do not recognize our potential for goodness. As the reading from the First Letter of John states we must turn to Christ as the witness of the glory which is within our reach.
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