Wisdom Speaks

(Midrash)

https://www.artmajeur.com/jiri-peter/artworks/10665793/the-queen-of-wisdom

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was

“God?”

You see all the great seekers of all the lands of all times had questions. To whom did they owe their great fortune? How to explain their disasters? This tale is an old one indeed for humans of all kinds first had to build a life and then a language. It began simply enough, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In what seemed like a divine nano-second, tribes and clans had formed. They lived together, they reared their children together, they tended crops and hunted. In time they would discover that they had more and more time to talk. You in your day, you take for granted how much you can converse and share ideas. You can text, instant message, e-mail, snail mail as you call it, pick up a telephone, listen to a radio, watch a tv or even watch a few hundred youtube videos but in those days, the days before the first spark, conversation was minimal. Conversation was more a series of grunts, groans and moans. Much of conversation involved gesturing and facial and body expressions. You still see remnants of it today, don’t believe me? Haven’t you ever wondered why certain people move their hands more or less when they talk? They’re tapping into my ancient language. They intuitively know it, as do you, but you’ve forgotten the beginning. Why shouldn’t you? You’ve grown so much as species since then. 

The nights were cold in the beginning and not like the cold you’re familiar with. Well perhaps if you enjoy camping, you might know a little bit of what I am speaking of. More likely if you are or have ever been homeless and have endured a cold night without a fire, you are closer to  understanding those first days and nights. These days, most of you are mostly insulated in your homes, you’re welcome. Yes, I whispered in the ears of men then and they listened. I whispered things which would seem like common sense to you but they weren’t always considered so.  How else do you think these men would know to take the hide from their animals and wear it? Oh, sure, we had our skeptics. There wasn’t the word for it yet but in your time, those opposed would have labeled hide wearer’s ‘barbaric’. Since you weren’t there, let me just assure you that wearing animal skins and furs initially caused as much or more controversy then your current scandals involving Miley Cyrus’ tongue. That was until people tried it on and they enjoyed the warmth. Also, where do you think the idea to spin a pile of fluff into yarn and then weave it into material in order to keep warm came from? I was there. I have been there. I am still here.

I wish you could have seen the excitement. I kept beckoning to those humans trying to re-assure them and teach them things. Finally I had a great idea, FIRE. No one had ever seen fire. No one even had a word for fire.  I have to admit, humans themselves also had a role in this monumental event that would forever more be known as ‘the spark.’ I told them everything I knew and they did their best to try to honor my teachings. That first fire-builder, they all thought he was crazy. I mean what would you think? Seeing this man rubbing sticks together? It looked like total nonsense to them. They made fun of him relentlessly, you humans always seem to do that, when someone is ahead of you in their understandings. How many times in your own narrow window of history can you recall great thinkers who came up against backlash and then upon their death, their theories were re-evaluated and it becomes the consensus that those ideas were just ‘before their time’? Well, the same could be said of the first man to seek to create fire.

Well, I’ll tell you fire really revolutionized things, humans could finally cook food and avoid certain illnesses carried by their livestock and they could actually enjoy the comfort of warmth. They began to be comfortable enough to even begin to talk amongst themselves, to laugh, and then they did something amazing, they began to sing, oh I loved hearing those first songs. Although truthfully, just as back then, every song is just as beautiful to me because it’s proof of a soul being able to speak. How can a soul speak when a body withers? At the time before ‘the spark’ humans were consumed with survival, every day was a battle. Their songs reflected this. However, the word, “God?” found it’s way into the heart of and out of the mouth before I even knew what was happening. I know who first spoke it but even if I told you, it wouldn’t matter. I can tell you how it happened. All of the village was fed and well, a fire crackled, diamond stars twinkled in the eyes of humans, one felt a deep satisfaction and peace, in an instant, looking at those far away stars she began to wonder, “Why, are we here?” In another clan, disease and natural disasters seemed to continually strike down all the members of the tribe. As his star-filled companion wondered, another wondered, almost simultaneously, “Why, are we here? Why?” 

I actually think it was a rise in consciousness, that lead to the eventual outburst of the word, “God?”

In the beginning “God” was a word. A far-off word and a concept yet to be fully developed, (on the human side that is) and humans believed. However, it didn’t stop there. Humans wanted to know more about God. As their words developed about all of life, so too did their words about God. They began to use their words to weave stories and convey understandings. It was all so intoxicating and yet it took hundreds, if not thousands of years. Finally, there were more words going around about God. Humans had heard of Jesus. Their words were now his words. They all drew together in marketplaces, in the streets, in their homes, the word had become words. 

I can’t tell you how sad it has been to watch some humans get so concrete in their understandings of ancient things. Who has it served? It’s not that I want humans to cease to communicate but sometimes I can’t help but think that your precious words create more barriers than openings. Some humans have learned this truth and they have learned humility from me. I quite appreciate those humans, they do make my job quite a bit easier. However, I have to say, there are many others who have really made my job very challenging. It’s harder these days too, your words are everywhere, billboards, radios, internet, mail, verbal, audio, it’s a symphony of thoughts. So many conductors among you, so many opinions. What use do you have for darling Wisdom, now? At least that is what some of you seem to think.