(Genesis 1, 25-26)

‎"And the Lord said: Let US make Mankind in OUR image, after OUR likeness;..." (Genesis 1, 25-26)
Who is US and OUR?

This question is asked to challenge people's views within their belief systems and hopefully make them see the world in a more productive light.

I was raised Baptist. I remember reading from the Bible at a very young age. As a matter of fact I learned to read by reading the bible. When I read this passage I naturally assumed that God was talking to the Angels and did not question this for in my little mind that was rational. However, I remember being in Sunday School one day and having this question answered totally different from what I believed. My teacher told our small class that God was talking to the Father, Son, and The holy Spirit. This made no sense to me because previously we were told that these three entities were one in the same. Why was God talking to himself? Hence, the beginning to my long road of confusion. 


As I got older these questions became more complex as my mind created links between ideas and situations. The more I read the bible the more bipolar God became. "An eye for an Eye/ Thou shall not kill". My search for answers proved fruitless and I could have been considered a "wild child" for all the mistakes I was making. So many rules bearing down on me telling me who I had to become. My passion  is and always has been writing. But "Writers don't make money, so u need a back-up plan." You like women? "Release that demon or you will burn in hell."  I am a reflection of God, his son Christ, and the holy spirit. I can't be me! I have to be like Christ was and like my mom so she'll like me. ( Wearing her clothes didn't work and no matter how much I wanted to think like her, my first instinct was never hers.) 


Imagine my melt down while going through puberty, acne, holding on to secrets of abuse, believing its right but being unable to forgive. I was a messed up kid and the confusion within the bible wasn't helping to resolve anything. So I put it down. 15 years old, dependent on a family I couldn't trust because they "lied" to me; and on a whirl-wind quest to find myself. It had to be top secret because to tell them would be a sin to them. For the bible teaches we are not to question our parents or we will burn in hell. I look back and spiritually I was so mature, but mentally I was a child and an idiot. My fear of failure caused me not to try to succeed. I was lying to hold on to back-up plans I didn't trust, while attempting to make worldly connections with my spirit. I searched outside myself for love and made many mistakes while doing so.


I married young was on my own in a home where finally I was an equal to someone old enough to be my father. But I was a scared child always waiting to attack and harboring anger at him for putting me in a situation where I had to trust my spirit over my mind (even though I needed it). For that is a dangerous place where people must decide to jump into themselves or off a bridge. I had made the decision hap-hazardly and hadn't thought of what that journey would entail or if my husband was stable enough to love me while I went through it. My mind knew it was too late to turn back and my spirit was eager for introspection. 


I was a spoiled housewife, so that gave me plenty of time to look at myself. I went back as far as I could. My earliest memories are of reading the bible and wanting my fathers girlfriend to leave her red lipstick on my cheek. So I picked the bible back up. ‎"And the Lord said: Let US make Mankind in OUR image, after OUR likeness;..." Who is US and OUR? Us and Our are God the Angels. The more I researched the more I realized I was not alone. Hebrew faith concurs. 


Rabbi Bechhofer of the Hebrew Theological College, explains it well. 

"God did not intend humans to master only the material world. He endowed humans with the capacity to master the Heavens, to manipulate the angels and the spiritual forces that angels represent. (It is for that reason that God turned to the angels and said "Let us make Man." He was really requesting them to contribute of their essence to Man, so as to "hard-wire" humanity with compatibility with the angels, ultimately affording us the capability to master and sway these spiritual forces.) The good deeds of Man enhances the positive forces of the spiritual realm, and these forces, in turn, exert a beneficial influence on the material world. Man's evil deeds diminish the spiritual realm, and, in turn, the material world is afflicted." http://www.torah.org/features/genesis/topic2.html

This changed my life. To have it explained so eloquently gave room for me to make connections within me. I at that time harbored an individualistic view of the world. I saw my problems and my fears over the problems and fears of my neighbors. I was telling myself I could not bother with others and their problems because I had to deal with my own. I could not fathom how my individual indifference affects the world. For living as I was afforded me the comforts of not seeing the children I would raise this way, who would go on to raise theirs that way.


However, "With knowledge comes much responsibility." Now that I understood that Hitler was not born, he was created, I had to change my perception in order to end the vicious cycle that afflicts the spiritual world. I realized that if God were looking down on the earth, he would not see me upon first glance. He would see the world. Maybe then he would choose North America, the US, then look in Florida, Orlando, into my home and choose to see me from there. Always the individual, I adapted the stance that I am an individual within a whole world. For in order to reflect Him, I must "see"/ perceive him first.  I am a reflection of my creator and the forces his angels represent. I am capable of mastering the physical and spiritual dimensions of creation. This is powerful in that I live in a physical world, but I walk in spirit. 


Time went on and there were many more chances to grow as I got my bearings. I realized that I could accept and acknowledge a creator, however I could not conceive of a God in the conventional Christian terms. I could not believe that a God that created us with such capacities would need to stand over us and watch our every move. I saw this wonderful creator as one who would go on to create again. For from his view and with his capacity for knowledge, the earth to him would be a mere ant pile. Our problems undetectable with a microscope to him. He'd already given us all we needed to not need him. 


I asked myself why I was walking so slow In spirit. I realized that my spirit was weighted with fear, anger, pain, etc. However with this new view of the world, these emotions are one's I can no longer afford. Depression is an indulgence reserved for those weak of spirit. Hate is a four letter word that deceives the heart. Time is an illusion that assists with procedure. Feelings like happiness, contentment and peace were all simply a state of mind; a vision I could create and define and live in if I were strong enough to not allow others to blur it with their opinions and judgement.  Everything I have been through in this life has never been personal. These were simply opportunities to grow and evolve as a person and in spirit. I felt like a chip had been removed from my shoulders. Forgiveness came easy. No lies had been told. The people in my life were doing the best they could with what they had. They were simply loaning me their truths until I found my own. I gave them their truths back and found the strength to step out on my own volition without fear. Love and compassion also came easy. For I appreciate their wisdom and regret nothing. I am now who I am and I am powerful and in control. 


I took that line from Genesis; that one piece of insight from the bible and realized  I didn't need any other parts of it.  Manipulation of physical and spiritual forces was simple. I had uncovered my light and now I have a guide in any darkness. The lines in Genesis didn't change. My perception did.