The Call to Life PDF

The Call to Life The word “vocation” comes from the Latin verb voco, -as, -are, which literally means to call. Since the word “vocation” is used as a noun, then basically it would mean a call or calling. In the context of our lesson, we will be using the word vocation as a summon, an authoritat...

The Call to Life The word “vocation” comes from the Latin verb voco, -as, -are, which literally means to call. Since the word “vocation” is used as a noun, then basically it would mean a call or calling. In the context of our lesson, we will be using the word vocation as a summon, an authoritative call on someone to be present. We now take a look on the Second Story of Creation, which distinctly provides a narration on the creation of the human being. We will focus specifically on Genesis, Chapter 2, verses 7 and 8 and go through a basic exegesis or interpretation of them. Genesis 2:7 reads thus: 7 then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. In this verse, as the New American Bible [Revised Edition] comments (that) God is portrayed [here] as a potter molding the human body out of earth as He “formed man out of the dust of the ground”. As the verse tells us, God formed “man.” We now note, as the New American Bible again comments that there is a play on words in Hebrew between ’adam (“human being,” “man”) and ’adama (“ground”). This means that the Hebrew adam is not a name (of the first man) but a generic term for the human being. The next important thing to note in the verse, is that it is not enough to make the body from earth as it adds “and blew into his nostrils the breath of life.” God has to breathe into the man’s nostrils that he may come to life. Thus, God’s act of breathing into man’s nostrils the breath of life is His act of giving the gift of life to the human being. This is later on affirmed by a similar picture of divine breath imparted to human beings in order for them to live as found in Ez 37:5Links to an external site., 9–10Links to an external site.; Jn 20:22Links to an external site.. Note that the Israelites did not think in the (Greek) categories of body and soul. What do we get from the commentary above? First, by forming man out of the dust, God gave the human being a physical (human) body. Then again, we must remember clearly that the Hebrew word adam actually means human being and not an individual human person named Adam. Second, the commentary tells us that God must breathe into the human being’s nostrils so that the human being can live. This second point is where we begin to apply the word “vocation” as a summon. As God breathed into the human being’s nostrils the breath of life, God called the human being to life. Therefore, a human being is not just called to be an existing human body but is called to be actively present in the world. This call to be actively present in the world brings us to the significance of the next verse (Gen 2:8). 8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed. The New American Bible [Revised Edition] thus comments that: Eden, in the east: the place names in vv. 8–14Links to an external site. are mostly derived from Mesopotamian geography. Eden may be the name of a region in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), the term derived from the Sumerian word eden, (means) “fertile plain.” A similar-sounding Hebrew word means “delight,” which may lie behind the Greek translation, “The Lord God planted a paradise [= pleasure park] in Eden.” It should be noted, however, that the garden was not intended as a paradise for the human race, but as a pleasure park for God; the man tended it for God. (Hence,) the story is not about “paradise lost.” What do we now get from this comment? We note here that in Hebrew, the language in which the Old Testament was originally written, eden would originally mean “delight.” The commentary further tells us that eden as “delight” would be the basis of the Greek illustration of eden as paradise. As paradise, however, the commentary tells us that it is a pleasure park for God, which the human being must tend—care for or look after. This would, then, mean that the human race’s active presence in this world must be able to “delight” or “give pleasure” to God. What can be the first step in tending our life and this world that God may delight or be pleased with it and with us? It seems quite obvious that the first step in tending our life and the world is to be grateful for and appreciative of everything God has given us. We will never tend something we are not grateful for or something we do not appreciate. When we are grateful of and appreciate something, we cherish or value it. Things we cherish and value are things that we take much care of. Hence, when out of being grateful and appreciative of what God has given us, we cherish, value and take care of all of them, God will certainly be most pleased with what He has given us and with what we have done to them.