Genesis (restore us to sanity)

What does it mean to be restored to sanity?  This question springs out of the 12 steps to recovery (step 2):  "We came to believe that a power greater than us could restore us to sanity."  The question comes from a place of feeling like sanity has never been a reality - but something new that was being sought.  How can we be restored to something we have never known?  I find my answer in Genesis - the creation - the world the way God meant it to be.  Creation is God's first recorded act.  And each day along the way he steps back and observes that what he has made is "good".  Even with the creation of humanity - God observes that what he has made is "very good".  The idea that God stepped back to observe his creation and make a judgment call seems to imply to me that there was room for God to say that it wasn't good.  I don't think God would create something evil - but perhaps he could have created something and then decided that it didn't please him.  Just as a chef or an artist might experiment with ingredients or color - following each step with absolute intention - but not being pleased with the final product... God could have said, I don't really like how this turned out.  But he didn't (not yet anyway).  It was pleasing to him and all his senses (I suspect he has more than just five).  This goodness came with an instruction:  "Be fruitful and increase in number;  fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 

This is God's first word to humanity concerning the future.  It is an instruction to be followed.  We are to "rule" over creation.  The only example of ruling thus far is God - walking with his creation, caring for it, taking pleasure in it, stepping back and seeing that it is good.  What place did the word kabash have in this context?  In Hebrew it seems to be more of a military term used in domination of the enemy.  The reading of kabash  as subdue  in the sense of "bringing under cultivation" sits better in my soul.  I have made this creation for you.  Use it as you will.  The Bible later goes on to describe good practices for using the resources God has given us.  These good practices are a model of good stewardship.  The better we treat the earth, the better it will serve us.  I think this goes for our bodies as well.  The better we treat our bodies, the better they will serve us.  The better we treat our souls, the better they will serve us.  I like how the word sanity in English resembles the word sanidad  in Spanish (my second language).  Sanidad  isn't just about being "sane".  It isn't just a mental health issue.  We use this word to talk about spiritual healing - and about health in general.  Sano  simply means healthy.   So in step two, we are looking toward God to restore our bodies, minds, and souls.  To make us whole again.  To bring us back to the goodness of creation - that which is pleasing to God.  Perhaps the word kabash  took on a more agressive tone as sin took hold in the world.  Is it our own sin which came out of creation the very thing that we must subdue?    I think this may be what the second step is getting at.  God, restore us to a place where we can step back and see things from your perspective - that your creation is good.  

(If you've been following my blog recently - the promises in Genesis are yet to come...)