With Genesis, a divine creator conjures
the created “out of nothing,” out of the
void. It is all “Let there be …”
This is not a birthing story.
Immediately,
you know that this creator exists outside of and before the
creation. The creating act then has no analogies
or metaphorical links to the created’s world. Whoever this creator
is, “it” is not linked
to the created world by any necessity or “natural” bond. It is
not family. It is not a
divine body. It is not-skin.
You can infer some degree of intimacy by arguing that
the biblical creator somehow “needed” to create the world
and humans, but the real impact of Genesis's opening
is a “Wow!” Meaning, there was
no need to create the world.
In fact, creation becomes, in
the Abrahamic tradition, a graceful, grace-filled and in the
same vein a gratuitous act of God’s dominion
which is a mystery that is unfathomable to
the human mind. In this tradition, one cannot look
to the created’s experience to understand the created. In short,
Genesis lets us know that this
world is god’s world,
not ours. The subsequent Garden of Eden is
not ours, either. It is god’s holy place,
not mankind’s.
What is the impact of all of this?
It speaks directly to the Earthfolk notions
of intimacy, vital zest and skin. Remember that: While
humans come from this Lone Male God, they are not created
from his intimacy—not from His vital zest. Humans
are not a “divine spark” or in any way
intimate with the Biblical god. Intimacy is a term of birthing, and
in Genesis there is no birthing. No
cosmic groaning. Rather, there is only an
exercise of power, of dominion. Just a magical moment
of conjuration. “Presto!”
Not the passionate, steamy, heart-thumping heat of frenzied erotic coupling—no
creating with vital zest!
Continue—skin
