In the beginning…
Every religious philosophy has a story about origins and beginnings. In Eastern religions that hold to reincarnation, the cycle of birth-death-rebirth seems to stretch on to eternity in either direction. The key to enlightenment and release from the cycle of rebirth is to see the greater reality beyond the illusory temporal reality. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the story of mankind’s beginning is in the first book of the Bible: Genesis.
Orthodox Christianity sees the Trinitarian God at work in created the heavens and the earth: God the Father, Son, and Spirit expressing their nature as a relational God through creation meant to be in harmonious relationship together. One of the most beautiful parts of this story comes when man and woman are created (Genesis 1:27, NRSV):
So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
The first man and woman enter into the larger story of God’s purposes for creation without sin, shame, or a sense of defeat. Even in their perfected state, they have needs: a need for significance, and a need for security. The need for significance was to be met in their purpose as managers and co-creators with God. The world was to be shaped by the actions of the man and woman, to both their delight and to the joy of God, their creator. As Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God “has set eternity in the heart” of men and women, we all long for significance beyond the day to day reality of our lives. We desire to know that we MEAN something by our existence. We desire to matter to someone.
The first couple’s security was met in that they were in a trusting and loving relationship with the Creator, and while all of creation was given to them to enjoy there were still limits to their freedom. Namely, they were not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In Psalm 119, sometimes called a “love song to God’s Law,” the author recounts numerous ways in which the boundaries set by God’s commands actually give a fully expression of human freedom. Can you picture the freedom and joyful abandon that comes from properly relating to the reality of God’s ordering of creation? “I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding” (verse 32).
These two needs, for significance and security, are present in all human interactions. From our infancy, we need to define where our reality ends and where the other begins. As John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth argued in defining attachment theory, it is only through the infant’s ability to establish a secure base (through the maternal care taking relationship) that the child is able to approach the exploration of his or her world with any confidence [1] [2]. It is in this relationship of first feeling secure and cared for that individuation and trust to differentiate can even occur! If there is not a healthy individual self-concept, all manner of pathologies may result. Absolute freedom without restraint is not the embodiment of love, rather it is characteristic of a cold indifference. Whether it is a care-giver or deity that remains aloof and distant, neither fills the need embedded in our very being. We all long for a sense of significance and personal calling into meaningful relationship that I would suggest is only fully met in a spiritual connection to the Creator.
How do you see these needs for significance and security operating in your own life? How does the measure of these met or unmet needs affect your relationships? I would be interested to hear from you as I continue to wrestle with my own understanding of how each as operated in my life.
[2] http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/online/inge_origins.pdf
originally posted at: http://fullhousewithaces.com/2014/07/08/attachment-theory-and-the-gospel-explored-where-we-begin/
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