It's amazing, even mind-boggling when we think about it. No two people who have ever lived on this planet have ever been exactly alike. At least that's what we are told. I suppose it could be that thousands of years ago, there was someone who looked and believed just like you do or I do, but even at that, the fact that they lived thousands of years ago, in another place, by definition makes them different from us. So let's stick with my opening sentence—it's amazing, even mind-boggling when we think about it. What a testimony to the creativity and ingenuity of God! It leads us to agree with the Psamlist: " O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:1).
Yet with this magnificent diversity, wouldn't you agree that people can basically be divided into two categories? One group believes that the world is good, and we have been created to enjoy it. The world is not in oppostion to us. We don't have to live possessed by fear and paranoia. Life may be difficult, but life is still good. We have been put on this planet to enjoy life. God wants us to be happy.
The other group believes that the world is a place to be feared. We have reason to be paranoid. The world is opposed to us. Life is difficult, and so ultimately, it is impossible to have lasting peace and happiness. Those who live this way probably agree with the philosophy that I read in a little book by Dan Goodman, titled Meditations for Miserable People (Who Want to Stay that Way). The philosophy includes such things as these:
When God shuts a door, God opens a window—then spits out of it onto my life (p.1).
Life will change day by day, and it will always change for the worse (p.26).
Every person has a rainy corner in their life, and my rain has spread to the whole damn room (p.29).
By writing my fears down on paper, I will see that not only am I afraid of everything but that I also have really bad penmanship (p.34).
The truth is that we probably live in both categories. Sometimes we belive life is good, and God wants us to enjoy it. Other times, we think life is out to get us. We live more out of fear than trust—an understandable way to live, given the news that grabs the headlines. But generally speaking, we live day-to-day, more in one category than another.
In the first creation account, which is found in Genesis 1, after the first day of creating, we read that God saw that it was good; after the fourth day, again we read that God saw that it was good; after the fifth day, once again God saw that it was good. Then on the sixth day, after creating woman and man, God saw everthing that God created, and we are told that God saw that it was very good.
All that God created—the seas and land, the plants and trees, the sun and moon, and this material world, we are told is very good. If this is true, they are to be enjoyed. So in the words of my Jewish sisters and brothers, I offer the toast, "L'Chaim!"..."To Life!"
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