Читать книгу I Will See You in Heaven (Cat Lover's Edition) - Jack Wintz - Страница 10

Annabelle

Annabelle was shot when she was a kitten and lived with two pellets in her spine. We rescued her at age two, and once she was sure she was safe and loved, she always looked out for people who might need extra affection and company.

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And It Was Very Good

In the earliest verses of Genesis, darkness covered everything until God created light to separate the darkness from the light. “And God saw that the light was good.”

Soon we read that God separated the earth from the seas. “And God saw that it was good.” Then God added vegetation, plants, trees, and fruit. “And God saw that it was good.” On the fourth day, God put two great lights in the sky: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, thus separating light from darkness. “And God saw that it was good.” These two great lights, which St. Francis would call “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon,” have contributed enormously to the well-being and enjoyment of God’s creatures.

On the fifth day, God created sea monsters and birds of all kinds. “And God saw that it was good.” On the sixth day, God made land creatures of every kind: “cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind. And God saw that it was good.” Also on the sixth day, God made human beings, saying, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to 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 wild animals of the earth.”

Finally, in Genesis 1:31, “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” This “very good” label, which God places upon both human and nonhuman creatures, seems to be an argument for God’s desire to have both classes of creatures share in the original Garden of Paradise, where peace and harmony reigned between God and human beings, upon creature and creature. Certainly, God is not going to create—and then ignore—what he perceives as “very good” creatures!

God does everything out of love, and this includes the creation of our world. God’s words to the people of Israel in Jeremiah 31:3 also come to mind: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” The Psalms, too, remind us that God’s “steadfast love endures forever.” In Psalm 136 alone, the refrain “his steadfast love endures forever” is repeated twenty-five times.

Our God is a God of overflowing love, goodness, and beauty who is ready to give over everything to those he loves. This goodness is reflected in the whole family of creation. When God says of any creature, whether human or nonhuman, that it is “good” or “very good,” it is not simply a matter of moral goodness. The creature also has an inherent goodness and beauty—a beauty that reflects God, who is Beauty itself. Surely the Creator would not suddenly stop loving and caring for the creatures he had put into existence with so much care.