Origin Story #9 of 21:

And God blessed them, and God said to them…

"Behold, I have given …every green plant for food.” (Gn 1:20-31)

The abundant vegetation of grains and fruits the “earth brought forth” on the third day provides enough food to feed all living creatures of sea, sky and land. We share the blessing with “All Creatures of our God and King”, as the hymn goes. For now, humans along with all the other animals, are vegetarians. There are no predators or fear of predators. That’s Shalom—to live in peace and wellbeing with one’s Creator, and with creation, and with all living creatures. To know such peace is to be blessed.

It tells us something about God’s intent for humankind’s power to subdue and rule. It’s a power and rule that does not threaten, but like God, nourishes and cares for creation and its creatures. For God’s people, it remains our hope for a redeemed creation (Isa 11:6-9):

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

      and the leopard shall lie down with the goats,

and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

      and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall feed;

      their young shall lie down together;

      and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The sucking child shall play with the cobra,

      and the weaned child shall put his hand on the viper’s den.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;

      for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD

      as the waters cover the sea.

In the closing chapters, Isaiah will speak again of this renewed creation (Isa 65:25):

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,

      the lion shall eat straw like the ox;

      and dust shall be the serpent's food.

They shall not hurt or destroy

      in all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

What happens if we remove our Creator’s blessing? What happens when we come up with an origin story of our own—a story told without our Creator’s blessing? What happens when we no longer see the other as God’s creature? What happens when humans use their unique powers to subdue and rule without any knowledge or care about their Creator? It’s here, at the point of blessing and goodness, that David Cs story fails us. What reason can science give us to care for “All creatures of our God and King”? Natural selection knows nothing of goodness, beauty, or blessing.

As believers, we are often reminded of how religion has caused all sorts of horrors in the name of God. It’s true. We, as best I can see, have owed up to it. Maybe even repented of it. Bad things happen when the church lays claim to Caesar’s Sword (Rm 13). However, does science have clean hands? Have horrors been committed in the name of science? The French Revolution, Communism and Nazism come to mind—ideologies that dismiss God at the altar of science.

We live somewhere between these two worlds—the world of God’s good and blessed creation, and the renewed world that the prophet prophesied. In between, with God’s permission (Gn 9), we are free to eat meat. Maybe, those of us who don’t mind a good steak, should at least feel a little uneasy about it. The closer we are to animals the less comfortable we are with eating them==like pet dogs and cats. Not only dogs and cats, but now that the Taylors have chickens, the children don’t want to eat Steve’s state of the art barbecued chicken. Some choose to be vegetarians, like some choose to be pacifist; choosing to live in this world as if it were the redeemed and renewed world that awaits us. Some of us choose to live in this world as is, yet not all together at ease about it; knowing of God’s blessing on “All Creatures of our God and King”, as the hymn goes.