Becoming a living soul (Genesis 2:7) as God's purpose breaks forth into our life in the baby of Bethlehem with a testimony to that reality by Jean-Paul Sartre.

SCRIPTURE: Genesis 2:7 (TM)

God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive - a living soul!

STORY:

Near the end of his life, Jean-Paul Sartre told Pierre Victor: "I do not feel that I am the product of chance, a speck of dust in the universe, but someone who was expected, prepared, prefigured. In short, a being whom only a Creator could put here; and this idea of a creating hand refers to God." 

Protested fellow philosopher and long-time companion Simone de Beauvoir: "How should one explain the senile act of a turncoat?"

OBSERVATION:

We get caught up on the wrong issue when it comes to Creationism vs. Evolution. The key is not how, but why. It matters not to this old preacher the means by which life was formed – the process that God chose to use, but the purpose the Creator God had in mind in doing it. It matters not the length of the process nor the scientific means by which it took place, but the reality of it all. Humankind became a living soul.

A living soul! Connected to the reality behind the full scope of the universe. A part of the energy force of love and possibility that we call God. The distinctive reality is our uniqueness. There is no one quiet like you or me. The “breath” of God – that energy, that force, that power behind the universe became a part of us when we took our first breath.

When someone engages me or at least tries to engage me in taking sides on this issue I listen respectfully and then respond, “You might be right” and it matters not which side the individual is arguing. But, then I continue by saying that I would prefer to use my mental capacity trying to fully understand and implement the reason I came into existence. We can either take up space occupying a piece of this good earth or we can do something with our living soul. We can either waste our time and energy or we make a difference … and by debating the issue of Creationism vs. Evolution we are just taking up space. It doesn’t change a living thing.

When Christ came to Mary and Joseph in that stable he changed the dynamics of the debate forever. Now we can know for sure why we were created. Here in this little bundle of joy that feeds at the breast of his mother and fills more than one diaper is the summons to make our life count, to change the world in which God has placed us. With the breath of God we became a living soul, but with the breath of this baby we became a dynamic force in the universe that is here to make life-changing possibilities for everyone we come in contact with. This babe of Bethlehem changes the condition of our heart from a self-seeking actualization identity to a driving force in life that builds up, feeds the hungry, cloths the naked, visits the sick and cares of others more than we care for ourselves.

This living soul becomes a change agent so that others will come to realize that they too are living souls with a purpose and a future.

PRAYER:

Help us to be alive as long as we are breathing. Help us to do more than just take up space. Help us to discovered our real purpose.