Imago Dei, Adam

God help me to understand
what makes a man a man
not speaking of man as humanity
but as male as opposed to female?
isn’t it more than hormones and body parts?
“So God created Man in His own image,
In the image of God he created them;
Male and female he created them.”1
It is not sports or hunting or fishing
for women do these too nowadays
nor being a CEO or doctor or opening the door for another
it is deeper than our unspoken dress code
or the way we do our hair (or lack of doing)
more than bronze and beauty
intellect or gracefulness
God made us male and female
and like all things he made, it was “good”
Or in this day and age is it improper
to call God in the masculine?
many choose to call God in the feminine
reasoning that God is father as well as mother
and throughout history men are known for their pridefulness
the voices of women have been stifled for ages
men have abused women
and the historical scar is profoundly deep
the first years of public college, the ratio
1 in 4
sounded like nails on a blackboard
what hope have we men?
Is it not to look back to where we begin?
In the image of God
great mystery
to that sacred ground of Eden
where we could look in each others’
eyes and feel no shame
Jesus Christ let your
grace
cover with the fullness of salvation
our culture, our splitting churches,
our prejudices
our masculinity and femininity

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1 Genesis 1: 27