Do and defile

The mystery of the interplay of good, evil, human and Divine is brought to mind by the texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today. The reality of evil in the world is difficult to refute. We see how some are reacting to the effort of Egyptians to emerge from oppression to freedom. What does the Book of Genesis, the Biblical presentation of human origins, tell us about the origin of evil? It is not mentioned in the creation narrative except as something that humanity will only have knowledge of through disobedience to the will and command of God. This places knowledge of evil as something that was not in the Divine plan for humanity. Our inner drives bring us to ignore or oppose the direction we receive from the Divine. This direction is received during our dwelling in the intimacy which results from the resonance of our indwelling Spirit, breathed into us by God according to Genesis, and the Divine Spirit. The psalmist today proclaims the majesty of the Creator who gives sustenance and breath for life and when he recalls the breath we have death. The Gospel of Mark presents Jesus assertion that the evil which defiles human behaviour comes from within. Those desires which in the Creation narrative cause human to act as superior to God, remain within to emerge as greed, avarice and lust. Evil remains a concern.