Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:13-14)

I'm in Pittsburgh attending the Interim Ministry Network Annual Conference.  Our worship this morning was an interfaith service led by Christians and Jews.  One of the readings was the account of the creation of human beings from Genesis 1:24-31.

That reading was followed by a reading from the teachings of the rabbis.  Sanhedrin four, Mishnah five begins with a description of the warning that the judges would give to the witnesses in a capital case.  The mishnah then continues with a discussion of the uniqueness of every human being and the consequential extreme severity of capital punishment.

Therefore but a single person was created in the world, to teach that if any man has caused a single life to perish from Israel, he is deemed by Scripture as if he had caused a whole world to perish; and anyone who saves a single soul from Israel, he is deemed by Scripture as if he had saved a whole world.  Again [but a single person was created] for the sake of peace among humankind, that one should not say to another, “My father was greater than your father”.      Again, [but a single person was created] against the heretics so they should not say, “There are many ruling powers in heaven”.  Again [but a single person was created] to proclaim the greatness of the Holy Blessed One; for humans stamp many coins with one seal and they are all like one another; but the King of kings, the Holy Blessed One, has stamped every human with the seal of the first man, yet not one of them are like another. Therefore everyone must say, “For my sake was the world created.”

This mishnah reminds me of the words of one of the collects we often read in Morning Prayer, "O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth..."  It admonishes me to embrace the diversity God has designed into our human family.  And, it inspires me to not think less highly of myself than I ought to think, because God has gone to great lengths to create a universe in which I have the privilege of living. 

We are related.  We are different.  We are individuals.  All of us and each of us matters.  And all of this is because of God's design.  Maybe this gets at the meaning of Jesus' teaching, "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself."

Comments

[Howard]

Thank you for that Father it makes something I saw in a movie once, more like several times since I have it on DVD, much clearer. I don't normally like to draw pop culture comparisons to things of a spiritual nature but in this case it fits. In the movie "Schindler's List" two things happen that make that passage from the Sanhedrin come to life for me. The first is when Ben Kingsly's character and Oskar Schindler (Liam Niesen) finish the list. Kingsly rises from his seat holds the list up and say's to Schindler "This list is life" and the second is when Schindler must escape and the Schindler Jews give him a ring that is inscribed with "When one man saves a life he saves the world". Thank you for giving those 2 moments real meaning for me.