[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during June 2020]
Picture the scene – it’s Genesis chapter 2, Adam is alone in the Garden of Eden still waiting for Eve to show up. He has spent the day pottering around, marvelling at the wonderful variety of plants and animals that God has created. Now it’s the cool of the evening and Adam is pondering some of the big questions of the day like ‘if this garden is so perfect, why do the lemons taste sour?’ and ‘is it worth putting a fence around that big tree in the middle?’
It’s that time when the Lord God comes for his daily walk in the garden so Adam is not surprised to hear His voice. “Adam, I’ve got a job for you. You’ve been admiring all these animals that I have created but I need you to give them all names.”
“But Lord,” Adam responded, “I don’t know any Latin”.
“That’s ok Adam, English will be be fine. I’ll drop by tomorrow to see how you’re getting on.”
So Adam thinks to himself “I’ll go down beside the river where the animals come to drink. I’ll see them all there.” So he sets off along the path to the river. All of a sudden a large quadruped in Newcastle United kit runs across in front of him. “That’ll be a zebra crossing” thought Adam. Nested on a cliff was a small bird with a large beak who appeared to be short of breath. “Puffin” said Adam. Then he saw a large cat lying in the grass. It looked like a leopard that had changed its spots. “Cheetah!” cried Adam. At the river he saw an amphibian being pulled along by its mate. “Toad” Adam observed. In the shallows he saw a large bird with a long neck picking up things in its beak. “I think that’s a crane” decided Adam.
So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. (Genesis 2 v20)
Ok, a light-hearted look at a passage of scripture that is often dismissed as merely a sidenote in the story of creation. But what does it show us about being partners in God’s work? What does it teach us about our responsibilities towards the rest of creation? And, taking that one step further, what does it teach us about our relationships with those who, like us, are made in the image of God?
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
