#3 The Chasm - Part One

”Talk #3: The Chasm – Part One”

M. B. Fields, Jr.
Copyright© 2007 By Grand Organ Productions, LLC
All Rights Reserved

Genesis 1:1-2(a)
Leviticus 10:3
Proverbs 1:7
John 9:31


Parents and children. It is interesting to realize that, while many of us have never been parents, we have all been children. I was a child. In fact, I was the last child born in my family—the baby of my brood. And, in many different ways, I am a child still. But, perhaps we can talk about that later.

Why don’t you pull up a stone, and chat with me about this whole “Chasm” thing?

In this series of talks, I have mentioned that there are many ways that our Faith, like our life, can bring us to points that we never imagined. We have looked, briefly, at how it is that we bring ourselves to the point where our most intimately true statement to someone else is “I do not love you anymore!” Marriages fail, friendships fade, and we find ourselves at pivotal points in our many life relationships. But, actually saying those words is often incredibly difficult—or so we like to believe. In actuality, we can say those words very easily with no words at all. Our actions towards a person, or a situation, or even toward God can speak volumes that our minds cannot create, and our hearts just do not have the courage to speak.

I also talked with you, the last time we met, about this notion of God not really caring about us, at least at one point. We looked at the one question which God requires each one of us (at or beyond the age of accountability, at least) to answer. We considered not the answer, but the question. I explained to you my theory that God divides His interest in, or for each of us at one particular point. That point was referred to as “The Chasm”. On one side of it, there is you. On the other side of it, there is everything else. Standing squarely between Genesis 1:1, and Genesis 1:3 in the Holy Bible, in a space which takes up all of eternity, lies the chasm. Genesis 1:2 describes it, graphically. In this talk, I’d like to take a look at the Geography of the Chasm, and at least try to figure out why we find ourselves in this territory in the first place.

On one side of The Chasm, on the Genesis 1:1 side, is a dark territory. It is forever night there. There are many dark creatures there, as well. But, mostly, there are wandering souls. From time to time, moments of light appear as objects in the dark sky streak towards, and into The Chasm. They fly through the night like meteors, and are consumed into the abyss like so much space garbage. Standing on this side of The Chasm, we can see The Chasm. We can even timidly place ourselves right on the brink of it. The ragged edge seems to stretch out beside us beyond our vision. We see these streaking objects fly into The Chasm, yet never see them land. Down, down into nothingness, they fly. It is a very quiet place on the 1:1 side of The Chasm. Occasionally, those who gather around that place quietly muse as to the purpose, or the reason, or even the reality of their being here. Quietly spoken questions find no answers here.

There is a thick mist which seems to surround everything here. And, there is a sickening smell, much like perhaps what sulfa might smell like as it boils. There is a far-off, meandering echo emanating from the general area of The Chasm. Looking toward The Chasm, one can make out a very dark, orange-yellow glow which offers the only light that is consistent here. Those who find themselves on this side of The Chasm tend to be silent. Any vocalization is much muted. This is definitely a place for solitude, and silence. Only the constant “whoosh” of those flying objects seem to create the ambience of this place.

This is a very strange place, indeed. It is built for neither comfort nor longevity. There is room for all who are here. But, there is no growth here. There are no flowers, or birds, or trees. There is no grass. There is no weather. The temperature environment is merely determined by your proximity to The Chasm. Scattered into quiet corners are weary travelers, seeking respite from the confusion. Yes, that is a very good word for this place. Confusion has a location, and you are there. Nothing seems to make sense. Your senses are diffused, and out of sync. The things you see don’t make sense. The smells are vaguely familiar, yet distant. The sounds are fuzzy, and your hearing seems to be fighting through too many filters for any sound to be distinct. Even as you touch your surroundings, confusion reigns. Rocks are mushy, and the ground is harder than concrete.

Nothing is as it should be, and nothing makes sense to you. And, what is perhaps worst of all is the single realization that you have no idea how you got here.

Have you ever been there?

When I was a much younger man, I decided that I was going to marry the perfect woman. She was, in fact, the perfect woman. If, I pondered, she was as perfect as I believed her to be, then she would never choose to marry me. That would be contradictory to her perfection in one very real sense. She was the most intellectual person I had ever known. Her mind was incredible. So were her personality, her laugh, and her body. There was also a real consideration to be made. She was the Mother of three teenagers. She was a parent. I had never been a parent. I was a wonderful Uncle, though. I had been a very successful baby-sitter. She was also a successful professional, with a reputation that spanned this continent. Her marriage had very completely fallen apart, and she was working three full-time jobs as a single Mom to provide a home, shelter, food, and clothing to three amazing—but growing, teenaged children.

I was successful, too. I was happily ensconced in a world where my work was being recognized consistently. I was traveling the world, doing what I did best. I was actively involved in a ministry that was gathering notice and kind words from lots of different places, and from people whom I respected and admired. Life was good. I had recently taken the opportunity to return to school, to secure a Law degree. For the next three years, I would be some 2,400 miles away from this life, and these people. I put my life, my hopes, my dreams--my marriage--on hold to complete a journey that would only result in someone else's (my Father's) dream becoming a reality, not mine. How’s that for setting yourself up to be in a place where nothing is as it should be, where nothing makes sense to you, or for you? Well, I have always believed that, if you are gonna do it—DO it!

In a very short amount of time, there was no usable landmark in my world. Certain road signs that I had used for the entirety of my life either did not appear, or did not make sense to me. Nothing fit, and nothing pleased me. Friends that had walked alongside me for years couldn’t be found, and new friends could not seemingly be made. My world was on a strange tilt. It was a time of the greatest confusion for me. Yes, it did eventually work itself out. But, only when I realized (incidentally, on the very day of my graduation) that I was in a place I should never have been, doing a thing that I should never have done. I graduated, took my Diploma home to my Dad, and left an entire world behind me. I caught a flight to Denver, and began the rest of my life. I got married, became a Step-Dad who, for years, would be known most affectionately as "Him", and got dis-inherited. Not bad for one day, is it?

For me, those years were years of utter confusion. I did not much enjoy myself for most of that time, yet there were some amazingly good times there, as well. I did make some really great friends, who keep in contact with me today. Some of them even look in this portfolio every once in a while. I’m very grateful for that. I’m grateful for their friendship, as well. As only the very best friends do, these folks let me lean. They supported me, encouraged me, and shared life with me in these times of the greatest confusion. Many of the choices I made during those years were among the worst choices I have made in my entire life. In fact, I can only think of two choices that were good. But, those two choices created a most incredible future, where I live today.

I had no idea that my world since that time would be as it has become. I could not see past the confusion and utter chaos of that Chasm. And yes, it is the very same Chasm that we are talking about.

Chaos, and confusion. Have you felt that in your life. Do you feel it now? Did you know that these two components are the very same components that God used to create the World? Perhaps we need to peer over the edge, and take a look into The Chasm. Why is it there, and why are we here? What can we learn from this experience? Much, I promise you.

Take a look at Genesis 1:1:

“In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.”

I am, admittedly, a “comma” freak. Commas create a pause, slight but distinct. I have a long history of the greatest difficulty with this punctuation. Imagine my surprise to discover that the comma is the first point of punctuation in the Holy Bible! But, there it is, three words into the volume.

Hebrew and Jewish writers have a name for this Book, as well: “Bereshith”. As incredible as it may seem, this word translates to: “In the beginning”.

These words have suffered the greatest and most grievous discussion throughout man’s history. The Hebrew uses the term absolutely, not relatively. The imperative question that comes is, “The beginning of what, exactly?” There are many different arguments which can be made here, and more than a few that I personally believe can even have qualified merit. Was there truly nothing prior to this moment? There must have been, because there was, at the very least, God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Angels were present at the creation of the World, so they had to come from somewhere, right? Were there societies present on the World? Were there Dinosaurs?

These are all interesting questions, and very worthy of much academic writing. But, after years and years of mind-numbing cogitation, I can tell you that I have come to a really simple, workable answer. It makes perfect sense to me, and I hope it will make sense to you too.

“In the beginning of relationship with me….” Yes, I am completely aware that I am trans-literating the Scriptures. But I am not attempting to re-write them. I am attempting to explain to you my understanding of them. In point of fact, I happen to believe that the Hebrew word was accurate. In the absolute beginning of all that is, the relationship with me was created.

“God”.

The supreme Creator, the very God of Creation. Dad. Elohim, “the Great and Mighty One” (literal translation).

”Created”

In the beginning of relationship with me, Dad caused that which had not previously existed to come into being, through His own ability, and without assistance from any other.

”the heavens and the earth”.

That which I call home. In all of the Universe, the one place I know. The warm, blue orb that spins in six different directions. The place of my birth, and my existence. My community, and my neighborhood, and my home. My Mother's womb.

Which parent-to-be has not prepared, planned, and created space in their lives for an upcoming birth? I remember the amount of time, space, and money I spent in anticipation of the arrival of my first grandchild. Man, did I just go totally nuts, or what? There was nothing needed that we had. From nothing, came something. We made sure that our children had their needs met. Parents do that, don’t we? When my wife and I were married, I got the opportunity to contribute to the “space” of my step-children. I wanted their needs to be met in every way. Nothing was impossible to me. Whatever needed to be, was. It was just that simple. I took to it with great joy and relish! It was a most joyful time in my personal life. The anticipation was smothering, at times. For hours, my wife and I would sit and talk about what would be. Of course, she had been down this road more than a few times. But, she was still filled with the excitement, joy, fear, and anticipation of a new relationship. She was also painfully aware of the dangers of this journey in a very personal way.

In just the same way, Dad created the space required for relationship with me first. It was Dad who did it, and that is precisely what He did. And, as He did it for me, because I was His kid, so did He too do precisely the same for you. Before I knew Him, He knew me. He created the space for our relationship, because He fully intended to have one. We all know, I sincerely hope, that not every pregnancy is planned by loving parents who can think of nothing they want more than a new life to love. Not every child is created for the receiving of love by a parent (or parents) who simply cannot breathe without an object to love completely.

But, Dad is not one of those. Dad planned for relationship, and created the space to provide it—for me, and for you. Why? Because He is Dad, that’s why. And, as any parent will readily, even if painfully explain to you, there is just nothing quite like an “about-to-be” Dad! This Dad is the most incredible Dad there ever has been. His creation of the space for relationship with you and I was a labor of love—the kind of love we cannot even imagine within the most secret place of our hearts. Does He NEED us? No. Does He WANT us? You betcha!. More than anything that Dad could want, He wants His kids. He wants the relationship with His kids that He envisioned at the very moment He created the space in the first place.

Let’s look, for a moment, at the next verse. We have to peer forward to see it, from our position on the 1:1 side, but there are some things we can really make out, if we look closely.

Genesis 1:2(a)

”And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”

Everything was completely dis-organized. The wet part covered the hard part. But, the hard part was there. Darkness covered the deep, but the ground was in there, somewhere. Chaos reigned. Utter confusion was the first result of the creation of the space that Dad made for His relationship with you and I. It was from the chaos, and the confusion, that Dad organized all that came from it. You do know, don’t you, that the highest mountains in the world have fossilized seashells near their summits, right? Before he organized the compnents into the final reality, Dad assembled all the pieces necessary for that which caused His first action; Dad created all those things that would be required to have the relationship with His kids that He desired. He threw them together in one place in that one chaotic and confusing moment that we call creation, and He put them in a place that would hold them all.
But, what things "make" the creation of a relationship?

It took Dad a while to get it all organized. From the chaos, and the confusion of that creation moment, Dad saw the completed work. But, in that moment, only the requisite parts were created. Lengths were not aligned with widths. There were tops, and bottoms, but they were not organized into units. It took Dad, who knew precisely what He intended from the beginning, to sort all the pieces and parts out. Well, what did He do with all of these various pieces/parts? He put them in a place where He could pull out the piece, or the part required to complete the creation. What place?

The Chasm, of course. The disorganized, stinking, tumultuous region of that newly-created entity held the component parts of the final organized reality of the creation. It was (and is) a place sufficient to hold every imaginable component of a world, and even a world of lives in relationship. The ground and the water were all jumbled up there. The hard and the soft of creation was there, too. Rocks, and butterfly wings were flung into The Chasm. Fire and straw, and ice were thrown in. Every component of the perfect creation, Dad put squarely into The Chasm. Hopes and dreams exist there, too. So do resentments, angers, fears, and every sadness that has ever been felt by one of Dad’s kids. Evil intents, ineffective prayers, and the useless things that create the trash of life exist in The Chasm, as well.

But, remember this one important point: the "Why"! Dad did not create the Earth for the Earth’s sake, did he? It wasn’t just another of the vast number of jewels in His Universe. It was a very special place, indeed. You see, this place was created for Dad’s relationship—with me, and with you. That is an amazing thing to consider. But, it is also the only way that I have found where the entirety of it all makes sense to my mind. In order to have the relationship with His kids that Dad knew was the only right way to go about this whole human, belly-button thing.

So, if what I have said is true (and, no doubt I am of the conviction that it IS true), why is it true?

Why would we find ourselves at the very beginning? Why is it here that Dad would choose to place us, and ask us that one inevitable question? Why is it that Dad just does not care one whit about us at this point, or in this place? And, what can we possibly do about it?

These are really good questions, among the many that could arise about now. Perhaps, the next time we visit, we will be able to get to the bottom of the Chasm, and figure it all out. I hope so. I hope you will consider, and perhaps even write down your thoughts at this point. I have left it wide open just for that purpose. This is, after all, a conversation. And, as we have already seen, sometimes the very best thing that can come from any good conversation is better questions. I hope you will consider yours.

I also hope that you will stop by again, and have a chat with me. It is a pleasure pulling up a Stone with you, and sharing these words with you. I hope that you will consider these words, and think about the reality that what comes next is exciting to learn, but very difficult to deal with. There is much good news to come, and I can promise you that much. But, as has been said so many times before, it is impossible to get beyond what you cannot, or will not get through. Perhaps you should spend some moments in solitude right about now. Consider the reality of The Chasm, and understand that there is much of you in it. But, what of you is in The Chasm? Can you peer inside the edge with vision that will allow you to make out something that you can recognize? Will you? I do hope so.

Thank you for stopping by. Good luck on your journey.

In His Care,

Budroe