The Pageless Book

Would a holy text written in the twenty first century need a creation story? Science has already provided us with the ultimate in creation stories - the verifiable facts. Although there exists gaps in our knowledge, there is enough information for us as human beings to gain a fairly good grasp of the events as they really occurred. No further myth or allegory necessary. Yet The Gated Emptiness provides us with a short creation story within the first third of the text. Why?

I think the answer is to give us context and to show us the relationship between humanity and the rest of the universe. The creation story of any religion is kind of like the directory in a mall, showing where you are in relation to where you want to go. You are here; you are the little blue dot on this map. You are human, a being that is both divine and earthly in origin, both perfect and flawed. Where you go from here is your choice, but this is your starting point.

The Gated Emptiness reads:

“In the void was chaos, and in chaos was all things possible, but not probable. Then was created limits and perception, and so all things that were, were probable, but not all things possible. Within everything probable, there lies a small piece of the impossible; God leaves nothing to chance.

And in this matrix of possibility, there emerged many things; all being perfect as all being flawed. The future shall be the past forever.”

Did you catch that? I have to admit the first time I wrote those lines, I had trouble understanding exactly what was meant. Let me see if I can break it down by using a metaphor. Reality before creation was like a blank canvas in a dark room, awaiting paint. There is raw possibility, but without the first brush stroke, the canvas is destined to remain blank. Before we can start painting, we need to turn on the lights to see what we are doing. We need to perceive the truth of the void, and then create one limit.

That first brush stroke across the canvas changes everything. It puts a limit on what we can create. By perceiving those limits we now know that is probable. Is this going to be a painting of rolling hills and happy trees, or are we going to make paint a nude portrait? Either way, it would have to incorporate that single brush stroke. Is there still a lot that is possible? Yes, but we’ve created a limit on that possibility, creating probability. However, just because there is probability, doesn’t mean we cannot attempt to stretch the limits of that probability.

God leaves nothing to chance; those limits are there to be challenged and as a challenge. This probability is due to our perception, and we can change how we choose to look at any given situation to create new possibilities. Perfection and flaw are matters of how we choose to perceive the world, Even though our past has put limits on what is possible, that doesn’t mean we cannot choose to be more radical and push those limits. Even when faced with the painting of Mona Lisa, we can choose to see the empty canvas underneath the painting and create something entirely new.

The Gated Emptiness continues:

“There were created moments, and in between moments angels unfurled as scrolls of continuity. Writ on those scrolls were lives that were to be lived, words to be said, and all things that are to come to past. God did let every thing touched by its divine hand choose its angel.

So was created man, grown from the garden of the world and made complex yet not complicated. And so was created woman as well, the fruitful and delicious strength to which man served. And so was created child, by union of the sharp and soft within woman by man. Each chose their angels.”

Here we are given a more definite idea of how humans relate to this matrix of possibility. Philosophers, behaviorists, and theologians have long argued whether human kind has free will. Some have argued that our attitudes and behaviors are predetermined by our external stimuli, while others have argued that choices we make are free of outside influence - we have free will. Both arguments have valid points. The Gated Emptiness, however, suggests that there is a certain amount of predestination and free will.

Our choices and the outcome of those choices are symbolized as angels. It is not just humanity which chooses; all parts of creation has some influence over its own fate, whether these parts are conscious of that influence or not. Man was “grown from the garden of th world,” suggesting that there was some amount of predestination in our evolution. Also notice that man serves woman, recognizing that the possibility of birth that women represent should be treated with reverence.

Ultimately, the creation story as depicted in The Gated Emptiness sets humanity up to be responsible for itself. Man, woman, and child alike is given the ability to choose their own angel or their own place within the matrix of possibilities. We are given hope, in that we are able to push the boundaries of the reality we live in, however there is a consequence for each action of which we must be mindful. This is where we stand in relation to the rest of the universe. Where shall we go from here?

Garden Photo by John Weiss. Dice Photo by M.P. Dehaan. Globe Image by Charles Dawley.