Cosmology
The story of creation
Genesis 1; John 1
What if the universe exists as a “self-portrait” of God?
What images help us imagine God as “three-in-one?”
Time, seriously why?
The Fourth Day of Creation; original icon by Betsy Porter, used with artist permission
What do we imagine…
might be the key difference between “created” and “noncreated” existence? Genesis opens the story of creation with these words: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the Spirit was hovering over the face of the waters. God and the Spirit collaborated to take creative action.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen 1)
And the book of John opens with an image of Jesus—the logos, the Word—also present at this first moment of creation, a third collaborator in the creative action. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him,
and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1)
So, what if God exists as three-in-one?
Can we imagine a “God-as-relationship” who created the universe through the act of speaking—movement, word, and breath?
And why time? Why is there now a “now”?
If God created the universe as an artist creating a self-portrait—reflecting God back to God—why not speak that image into existence all at once? Why speak it into existence a little at a time? Why was time necessary?
“Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness.” Gen 1
When I contemplated that question, I wondered if time might exist so that the image would never perfectly mirror the original. Or to put it another way, I wondered if time exists to prevent the created universe from becoming a “clone” of God, two God’s with a perfect 1:1 correspondence. Time solves that problem by ensuring the portrait will always be distinct from the artist—time is the key divergence between us.
And time is stressful, by definition. Movement through time places unavoidable stress on the body, on us relationally, and we can imagine spiritually if time indeed is the primary and essential separation between us and God. Perhaps stress is inevitable—desirable, even—woven into the fabric of creation from the beginning, a design feature rather than a flaw.
This appeared to me to be a potentially important link between science and theology. Under “just right” amounts of stress, perhaps we reflect God’s image the most clearly.
Under calm conditions, bodies of water reflect the sky above. But under stormy conditions, the surface of the water becomes choppy, distorting it’s ability to function like a mirror.
Are we possibly also that way?
Under “just right” stress, we show signs of life, relationality, kindness, creativity, and access to joy—characteristics we find in scripture attributed to God.
And under “just right” stress, neurobiologically we retain access to the upper networks in our brain—those pathways which allow us freedom of choice, movement, and creative nonviolent responses, even under threatening conditions.
And we can understand trust to be the mechanism which keeps our bodily stress in the “just right” zone. So perhaps bodily trust is the condition under which we most closely resemble—mirror, imitate, reflect—God’s image.
∞
God, the three-in-one Artist, imagined a way
for non-created existence to be perceived by created universe,
as a reflection of God:
life
relationship
kindness
creativity
and joy.
Because of time,
created existence will always contain some degree of stress.
When stress is just right
—not too high or too low—
perhaps God’s image is reflected in us.
Listening with you,
Questions for reflection:
When you imagine God as three-in-one, what image or metaphor comes to mind?
Which characteristics of God from scripture do you observe in yourself? Under what conditions?
How do you understand that relationship between stress, trust, and our ability to reflect God’s image?
Further reading:
Genesis 1; John 1
Sermons & homilies: What Does It Mean to Be Saved?
The Brain & the Spirit, Chapter 1, Dirt Roads and Highways, “In the Beginning,” pp. 11–15; “Time, Why?” pp. 16–17; “Reflecting God,” pp. 17–21.
