Our impulse to give explanation of anything often arises from our desire to give narrative to what we observe. So invariably all of our explanations become an amalgam of both fact and fiction – ever giving an interpretation of meaning to the data we assimilate. Some might foolishly assume that no narrative is required as if the data tells its own story . . . as if occurring in a vacuum of objectivity. Such a view presupposes the context within which all information is understood – neglecting to ever articulate why such a particular context should be accepted as valid . . . by simply assuming that like all data, the context within which that data occurs is also self-evident.
The very notion that anything could be self-evident is just an unarticulated acquiescence to the belief that perception is reality – as if everything that could be measured and examined were given value and significance by the person doing the examination . . . as if the explanation could somehow exist apart from the explainer. Such nominalism constitutes our modern iteration of Gnosticism – the material universe and the propositional narrative we imagine is the only rational way of thinking about that material universe . . . presupposing that a material universe is all that exists.
I am struck by just how reductive this approach is – an approach predicated on the baseline assumption that existence is ostensibly made up of data points of information that can be observed and analyzed by the human mind. This, of course, presupposes that existence is best defined in terms of time and space, energy and matter – everything that can be quantified and categorized. And I just don’t have the kind of faith it takes to believe in such a premise, and maybe that’s because I believe that meaning and purpose aren’t merely a psychological concern but are best understood ontologically.
In this regard, my Christian faith confession includes but is not constrained by, time and space, energy and matter, or how any of these things might be physically parsed – rather, my faith confession primarily concerns itself with the life-giving source and telos of existence. For this is the metaphysics of my faith – to seek the places where heaven and earth are being reconciled. Which is to say, to recognize the places where time and space collide with the timelessness of sacrament. For it is the Kingdom of God and his righteousness that I seek first and foremost, believing that everything else I need will follow (Matthew 6:33).
Because if I really believe that I am made in the image of God and that I’m also being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) – then when I read the opening lines of the Gospel of John (John 1:1-18) I read it within the metaphysics of how the timelessness of heaven has entered time . . . and by this, the whole of time and space were given meaning and significance. For Christ is the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). So I live my life in the reality of this metaphysic – for I engage life as a sacrament . . . the timeless place where I meet God, moment by moment.
. . . from the moment it all begins.
