Image and Likeness

We were made in the image and likeness of God. Genesis

What does it mean to be made in the image and likeness of God?

For many theologians, this text from Genesis points to our human capacity to become more “like God” in the world, which is to say more loving, compassionate, caring, and less driven by our smaller, self-absorbed and reactive selves. We do this through practices which helps us detach our self-worth and identity from the outer fluctuations of the things and experiences of life.  Living with more awareness and presence, in the deeper parts of our consciousness, we gain the wisdom and wherewithal to act in ways that heal not harm, repair not fractured, protect not violate. 

In his book “Bread in the Wilderness,” Thomas Merton describes this process of becoming like God as, 

It is the end of a long process of spiritual transformation in which the soul, perfect in charity, detached from all created things, free from the movements of inordinate passion, is able to live absorbed in God, and is penetrated from time to time with vivid intuitions of His action, intuitions which plumb the depths of the divine mysteries, which grasp God in a secret and intimate experience not only of who he is but of what he is doing in the world.

An intriguing similarity is found in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.  According to BKS Iyengar’s translations, 

“The Supreme Being is eternally free from conflicts and afflictions, unaffected by actions and reactions....God is within us and outside of us and not conditioned by time or space, a matchless seed of all knowledge.....We as human beings are caught in the net of pleasures, pains, sorrows, motivations and results but God is beyond all of these.” (Sutra 1.24, Core of the Yoga Sutras) 

In the Judeo/Christian tradition, this kind of action without color is called Agape love which is given unconditionally and requires no reciprocity.  Similarly, in the sutras, God’s actions in the world are without motivation for evil or good but rather a flow of open support for life’s unfolding.  

This invitation to Agape or colorless love is at the root of all religious and wisdom traditions, the highest order of being. We come into this way of being through spiritual practices, maturity, and through the great loves and losses we all experience through life.  Few among us will be born with this capacity of Agape love without long disciplined practice and hardship along the way.  The inevitable suffering, trials, and losses that pass through our lives will make us either more brittle and despairing or tender, deeper, hopeful and loving.  Which way we turn depends on many things internal and external but is certainly fostered by practice and when we are Graced with close and far guides to help us, a family that has supported us, a community available to hold us. 

When we are able to offer even the smallest acts of care and kindness, it can make a big difference for another and ourselves.  A kind word from a teacher, a shopkeeper who helps us to find what we need, a doctor who takes the time to listen, all offers of kindness and care that can help to bring some ease to our day.  In this way, even as we struggle with our pain, burdens, and overwhelm, we have the chance to be stewards of Agape love in the world through small acts of kindness. And as the love builds and flows through us, we may cultivate the capacity for larger acts of care, compassion, listening.