The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
God walked in the garden with Adam but still said that it was not good for him to be alone. He was made for relationship, not just with God, but with Eve, and with his children and extended family. Something is missing when Adam is still alone and none of the animals can fill the void.
"This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called 'woman, '
for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."
This does not mean that everyone must marry, although this is more or less how the ancient world often approached the issue. It does mean, though, the mankind is political animal, oriented toward polis, meaning the city or society. In other words we are meant to be part of a larger community of relationships. These relationships both obligate and support us. Even Christian hermits are active participants in this society through their prayers.
What lessons can we draw from this? One is that we should be cautious whenever we see ourselves isolating into some kind of self-imposed hermit status. We like to carve out space in our lives for just ourselves. And this isn't wrong. It is necessary to recharge. But it needs to be in the larger context of our ability to participate in the world and to do our best for others. Like Christian hermits, even our "me time" is actually in truth for others, even if we aren't thinking about them at the time.
Another lesson is the the family is not some negligible or artificial social construct. It is at the very core of God's design for the world. The family actually reveals the reason why God demands we live in relationship. It is because through the supernatural reality to which each family is called God reveals something about how he himself is love.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Since the family is the basis of society it cannot be neglected without drastic consequences for the world such as many that we see in our own day. Neglecting the family also hinders our ability to relate to God. And neglecting our relationship with God hinders our ability to live the family life to which we are called.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church (see Ephesians 5:31-32).
Every aspect of family has something to teach. Welcoming children teaches us how to love those who cannot earn our love. Being like children teaches us how we ought to relate to God as our Father. We learn to relate to Jesus as a brother who has blazed the trail of our salvation for us.
For it was fitting that he,
for whom and through whom all things exist,
in bringing many children to glory,
should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.
He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated
all have one origin.
Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them “brothers.”
May the LORD soften our hearts so that we can receive this teaching. May he guide us in the ways of love he intended since the beginning.
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