Quick Summary:

It all starts with dirt—God making this world and molding the human creature. In this second creation story we meet a Creator NOT above and beyond flinging words and singing syllables into stars, moon and sun, but rather a Creator with feet on the ground, committed—eager even—to plant a garden and get his hands dirty.

God scoops up some earth, adds water for good measure, works it together, shaping it, molding it, and when it finally suits him puts lips to nostrils &—AHHHH!— breathes into the dirt. God will name this first creature ADAM, meaning “Earth man” or better yet “Dirt man,” because he comes from the ADAMAH – the dirt, the earth, the soil—and will find his life there. ADAM from ADAMAH, human from humus.

LOOK! says the story, OUR LIFE COMES FROM DIRT; IT’S WHO WE ARE. YET, at the same time, in a fit of creativity we have yet to fully fathom, we are God-breathed creatures.