Reflection for Today ▶️ ⏩ ⏹️
The Word, pastel drawing by Tobias Mayer, 2022
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God / And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us
— John 1:1,14a
In the opening line of the Old Testament we read, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.1 John, the mystic, the dreamer, the philosopher is able to see, and to show us, that there was a beginning before the beginning, that in the midst of the vast nothingness, before the creation of heaven and earth—the event we now know as 'the big bang'—there was something else. There was order. Before there was matter, form, thought or consciousness there was order. Order existed, waiting for its moment of revelation which came in the form of man, the conscious creature. We did not invent the Word. It was waiting, and we unleashed it in all its power, its power for great good and great evil.
There is nothing in these opening lines from John's gospel that goes against physics, indeed as physics matures into 'new physics' we see the connections more strongly. The relaton theory2 describes the existence of consciousness prior to matter and form. Spiritual traditions over the centuries have independently acknowledged the power of the Word.3 Order was not imposed on top of chaos; the two emerged simultaneously, the yin and yang of existence. It is extraordinary that certain people in ancient times were able to intuit what today proves to be true. In some ways modern science is playing catch up to mysticism.
John not only tells us that the Word was the beginning, but then that Jesus was the Word incarnate, its personification. He came that we may have enlightenment, that we may see and understand. Jesus may or may not be the Word incarnate, indeed may or may not have existed at all, but the idea of Jesus is what is important here. We, humanity, spent many thousands of years abusing the Word, destroying and killing in its name. Two thousand years ago we were given a chance to redeem ourselves. Sadly, not enough people listened and the cycle of abuse accelerated. But the Word is still available to us, and its personification still among us. If we reach out we may find it, we may yet change direction. There are signs...
1 Genesis 1:1
2 The relaton theory is outlined in Godhead: the Brain's Big Bang by Ivan Tyrrell and Joe Griffin, HG publications, 2011
3 E.g. the four agreements of Toltec tradition, the first being, "Be impeccable with your word".