In the Beginning was the Word
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] The same was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (Jn.1:1-5)
The Sepher Vetzirah, the text Arial uses to create her golem, was written nearly two hundred years after Saint John opened his Gospel with one of the most beautiful pieces of poetry ever written. Even in English translation, the complexity of thought and the power of language remain. So many of the ancient traditions used by the ridiculous Dan Brown and the equally ridiculous History Channel were inspired by the mysticism inherent in Christianity rather than vice versa. Mithraism is first documented late in the first century A.D., that is "in the year of Our Lord", meaning after Christianity, not before. So also with Kabbalah, a version of mysticism inspired especially by Saint John's Gospel.Strangely, Christian mysticism aims at direct union with the divine. The purpose is to dispense with all things earthly and meet the divine naked and pure.
Humans being humans, we need a starting point, something to help us focus as we begin our journey into the divine. Saint John of the Cross offered his poetry. The author of "The Cloud of Unknowing" offered his text and the great Thomas Merton gave us "No Man is an Island".
These texts, for all their beauty and deep spiritual insight are but the train ticket, they enable us to travel without being the journey.
"The word was with God, and the word was God" makes it abundantly clear that the utterance and even the writing of a word is an act of creation akin to God's creation of all that is. To take that word and use it in the place of God is an act of transgression so profound it can only bring forth abominations.
Arial is as guilty of abusing the word as Curt Brunjes. It matters not that he propagates hate and she acts out of love. In the study of literature, we have what's known as the 'Intentional Fallacy', which is committed when the reader believes they understand what the writer intended the text to mean as the source of meaning for that text. Intentions rarely bring about the result desired. Arial's act of love brings death to others just as surely as Brunjes pamphlets, and he didn't intend for Isaac to be murdered.
We take our words for granted and speak without the intelligence or awareness of their consequences. Mulder's words to Scully in 'Never Again' were likely said with no intention to cause pain, but clearly they did.
We are creatures of words and we use them with little regard for their power. God created with a word. Even if you don't believe that to be the case, it retains a metaphorical value. Such is the power of words that the most powerful Being we humans can conceive still must use words to perform his work of creation. You don't have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, yet the fact that he never performed a miracle silently should carry meaning. 'Talitha Cumi', the title of the final episode of Season Three, is what Jesus said upon raising Jairus' daughter. (cf. Mk 5:41)
Human beings do not create life. We like to think we do because we have always desired God's power for ourselves. If you are a non-believer, understand God as an expression of what we hope to achieve. For we wish to create life. It is this desire that wrote the Sepher Vetzirah. It is an understanding of the futility of this desire that inspired Mary Shelley to write 'Frankenstein'.
We talk of pregnancy as the creation of life. It isn't. It is but the carrying out of God's creation, a continuation of the process of life that God set in motion. We humans take what God has given us and create art and literature and TV. I'm pretty sure God did not have TV in mind when performing the act of Creation. We have taken the intelligence, the stupidity and the desire God gave us to make of our world what we would have for ourselves. And blame God for the results!
Creation begins with a word. Be careful of the words you use and the way you use them. God's use of words is not our use of words, for we are prone to fallacy.
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