But the most dangerous word God ever says is Adam. All by itself it is no more than a pile of dust–nothing to be concerned about really–but by following it with the words for image and dominion, God sifts divinity into that dust, endowing it with things that belong to God alone. When God is through with it, this dust will bear the divine likeness. When God is through with it, this dust will exercise God’s own dominion–not by flexing its muscles but by using its tongue.

Up to this point in the story, God has owned the monopoly on speech. Only God has the power to make something out of nothing by saying it is so. Now, in this act of shocking generosity, God’s stock goes public.

-Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent