If you were asked what is the most important quality of… GOD, for you,
I imagine that you would choose the attribute that speaks to you most.
I expect that the answers would vary from one person to another.
People would speak of his kindness, his mercy, his patience, his compassion, etc.
The 1st reading of this Sunday (Genesis 2:18-24) mentions one aspect of who God is that I personally find very revealing.
The text says:
“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”
These few words tell us something quite astonishing,
all the more so that this text appears in the second chapter of the very first book of the Bible.
What is said, in fact, is that God knows what is good for us, human beings.
And not only does he know, but this is what he wants for us, what he is ready to give us.
The scene describes man – the first human being – trying to find a companion, someone… like himself!
Someone with whom he will be able to share his life on earth.
We see him going through all the creatures already present around him, but none of them responds to man’s need.
Not any of the living beings that surround him correspond to what he is looking for…
What is interesting in the text is that before we see man searching, we are told of God’s plan:
to give man this special companion he desires so much!
God has foreseen the need, God knows what is good, God is ready to provide…
To me, this is one quality of God that I find most comforting:
in any and every situation, God knows what is good for us and he is ready to give us precisely that!
We are sometimes slow to understand this and to rely on his willingness…
The apostle Paul had discovered this and he was convinced that it was so whatever happened.
He wrote to the first Christians of Rome, saying:
“By turning everything to their good, God cooperates with all those who love him” (Romans 8:28).
Do we?…
Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/27e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2021/
Source: Image: PrimoBibleVerses