The urgency of Imago Dei

Just a quick word this time upon my return from sabbatical; more later.  If you recall, my theme was imago Dei, the image of God, or more specifically seeing the image of God in who and what God created, both human and the natural world, with the idea being that it is much harder to exploit and harm who and what God created when you see them the way God sees them.  This is part of what I do in my daily prayer practice anyway, but sabbatical allowed a time away from regular parish responsibilities to delve more deeply into that practice.  It was a productive time on many fronts, but one of the things I came away with is urgency in our time of seeing and honoring the image of God in who and what God created, prompted by the increasing number and activity of hate groups, so-called "Christian" nationalists, and in no small measure by the recent escalation of political violence we are witnessing.  All of this is based in the failure and even refusal to see the image of God in who and what God created, all of which makes the greatest of our Christian commandments - to love, to see the image of God in the other - all the more imperative in our time.

— Marc