the world in our image
“We want the world in our image.”
It popped into my head, almost like an answer to a koan, on the drive home this afternoon. I was thinking of politics, and how angry people can become over the different candidates and their supporters, even if it’s within the same political party.
“We want the world in our image.”
The phrase kept repeating itself on the remainder of the drive. I chased it around in a bit in my head, didn’t get anywhere, decided “eh, fuck it”, and once I got home, went for a run. Afterwards, when I was about to get into the shower, the phrase “God made the world in His image” came ringing. There’s no Biblical equivalent to that exact saying (unless you believe Stephen King’s “The Skeleton Crew”* is the Bible), but this came close:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27
Another take on creation, this time, Feri-style:
“As She looked into the curved mirror of black space, She saw by her own light her radiant reflection, and fell in love with it. She drew it forth by the power that was in Her and made love to Herself, [...] She gave birth to a rain of bright spirits that filled the worlds and became all beings.” - Starhawk
So now I wonder: do we look in a fun-house mirror when we “see” our own image? Do we see pain, from which we must quickly look away? Disgust at ourselves, our bodies? Anger at our losses, etched by the furrows in our brow? Denial? Suppression? Or do we strive to see ourselves in love and compassion? What do we really see - or project - when we look in that mirror? In what image do we want the world to become?
photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik
* “Let me tell you something,” Garrish told Bogie. “God got mad at Cain because Cain had an idea God was a vegetarian. His brother knew better. God made the world in His image, and if you don’t eat the world, the world eats you. [...]” Garrish to Bogie, “The Skeleton Crew”, by Stephen King
Reminds me of the Virginia Satir quote: “In our sameness we connect: in our differences we grow.” We want the world in our own image and we want it (and ourselves) to be different. And wonder of wonders, that’s not a contradiction!
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