According to Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), man is the creature made to be in dialog with God. I like that definition, for it fits with everything from the first pages of the Bible. The other creatures -- the sun, the moon and stars, the animals -- were made to be His servants and to show His glory, but man....man was made to be in conversation with his Creator.
In the Babylonian creation myths, man was made to be a servant of the gods, to do the work they did not want to do. But the Bible has a different viewpoint, that of God walking with Adam in the cool of the evening, discussing the day, seeing Adam's need for companionship, and creating Eve. Man was made to share his existence with another, ultimately his creator.
That is why Jesus, at the Last Judgment, says, "Depart from Me, you evildoers; I never knew you." He does not reject them because they are sinners, but because they had no conversation with Him. When Jesus, the Son of God, emerged to show us the Face of God, He sought out the company of sinners rather than rejecting them. Even after Peter's denial, Jesus initiated another conversation with him. After Saul's persecution of Christ's body in the Church, Jesus persued him in deep converation. Perhaps this is the meaning of the word "conversion" --- the willingness, finally, to enter into conversation with God.
Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. To him that opens, I will come in and sup with him, and him with Me." All He asks of us is to open the door to conversation.
