Creation

While I certainly enjoyed many of the Trickster Tales, I was particularly stricken by the Miwok tale "How People Were Made."

I remember sitting in Sunday school as a small child, listening to Mrs. Betty's exaggerated portrayal of how God created the world in seven days, but paid special attention to man and even chose to create him in his own image (Oh, what a gift!) .I also vividly remember memorizing scripture with my high school youth group, particularly Genesis 1:27 which states, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
Having spent the majority of my life being told I was created in the image of something (or someone) I have absolutely no physical connection with, I was rather startled when I read the Miwok creation myth. In this myth, Coyote is concerned that everyone looks the same and changes his own image. Perhaps I am romanticizing, but I saw a great deal of artistic appreciation in the Miwok tale. Certainly all beings were considered equal, but equality (at least in this tale) is not limited to appearance.
I quickly found myself lost in thought, imagining a world in which all beings (and perhaps even a creator) find differences beautiful and necessary. How different the world would be if equality were based upon existence, not appearance.