“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.” –Genesis 1:26-27; 31
On the morning of Wednesday, June 14, at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia shots rang out as James Hodgkinson opened fire on the members of congress and their staffers who were practicing for their Annual Congressional Charity Baseball Game. Sadly, several people were wounded at this early morning practice and James Hodgkinson lost his life when Capitol Police returned fire.
Not long after this deliberate attack word was reported by the press that the shooter had been encountered earlier in the morning. He had approached others in the parking lot asking, “Are the people practicing Democrats or Republicans?” Although the investigation has not been completed, it appears he targeted those on the baseball field because they were Republicans.
I was truly sad when I first heard about this terrible event. When I heard that they were possibly targeted for their affiliation with a particular political party my heart was dismayed.
Throughout history, humanity has struggled with setting up divisions based on many different variables. Often partitions are based on race, religion, nationality, political parties, or philosophies on specific topics. Differences are a part of who we are. No one person is the same as another, yet divisions are not the only thing that should define who we are.
I believe that the greatest defining statement of who we are is found in the opening chapter of the Bible. The book of Genesis tells us clearly that we are all made in the “image” and “likeness” of God. Although our culture often seems to celebrate the strife between different factions of society, the Bible opens with a celebratory statement that we have a common origin. We are God’s people. We are all God’s children.
It is devastating to think that we could be so focused on a specific difference that we forget our common likeness. Unfortunately, it is easy to become fixated on the things that cause strife between us. When situations like the event on the baseball field in Virginia arise, I hope you take time to remember, you are…we all are children of God. We may often look at each other as adversaries, but God looks at us, His creation, and he says we are all, “Very Good.”
Rev. Keith King, Online Campus Pastor
