Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.
[Genesis 1: 26a]
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
[Psalm 139:13-14]
A second way that God reveals Godself to us is in our own creation. Genesis tells us that we are made in God’s image and likeness. If this is true, then we can see something of God in ourselves. We bear God’s image; perhaps that is physical, spiritual or mental, though I suspect it is a combination of all three. We also share God’s likeness; we are called to be stewards of creation, to live in relationship with others and with God. In these ways we are like God – God cares for creation and wants relationship with us as well as within the Trinity.
During lockdown I have completed my Masters dissertation on mental illness and the role of the church in supporting those who are ill. A large piece of the work looked at how all people are made in the image and likeness of God. All people – those who are ill, those who are disabled, those who are different to us, those we don’t even like. We can see God in all people, we are all a snapshot of God, in our love, our compassion, our striving for justice, our strength, and our weakness.
There are not may hymns about seeing God within us. One hymn by Richard Turner starts with the words “Created in God’s image, God’s likeness we can see, in each and every person, no matter who they be.” Also, there is John Peterson’s ‘In the image of God we were made long ago’.
Triune God,
We rejoice that we are made in your image and likeness.
Although we may only be a dim reflection of you
We are part of you, and you are part of us.
We thank you that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
We thank you that we see you in others,
In their faces, their personalities, their love.
Thank you for creating us.
Amen
Download a pdf of this Prayer for the Week here.
Prayer for the Week for August 2020 written by Revd Claire Rawlinson
Image: baby, photo by Peter Oslanec on Unsplash
