September 12, 2005
Greetings
When I turn on my cell phone, there appears on its screen the name of its creator superimposed over Michaelangelo’s drawing of the hands of our Creator and Adam a mere finger tip away.
I’ve always admired that drawing, but I’ve never been sure what the artist intended by it. Was it to depict God’s reaching out for Adam to shake hands and welcome him to the human race? Or have they just now let go after Adam’s receiving the Divine Jolt that started up his EKG out of flat line? Or whether, maybe, it was to show an unreachable gap that remained there until the Incarnation came along to close it?
The next image to appear before the phone becomes operative is the message, “Be safe. Be courteous.” Now, whether that’s the phone company’s suggestion or God’s is not clear to me. It does remind me of my Mom’s, “Behave,” when I went off to school each day, though it narrows down the options considerably.
Whatever, “Be safe. Be courteous.” is a fair exegesis of God’s charge about looking after Eden. If it had been used then, it might have saved Moses all that time writing the Pentateuch. But then, we probably would have figured out a way to complicate that, too.
[Visit Episcopal Relief and Development at http://www.er-d.org/ to make a donation to Katrina Relief or Episcopal Migration Ministries at emm@episcopalchuyrch.org to volunteer to assist displaced people with housing.]