A Narrative of Three

There are three things.

There is the tehom, the chaotic, oceanic pool of potential.
There is the Go()ds, the pluri-singular call to go()dness.
And there is the creation, the universe that is creating itself.

In the beginning was potential. Here, in this undifferentiated nothing is the potential for everything. I'm not sure if time was, or time came to be (in time?). But from this potential, flecks of froth emerged and then dissolved back into potentiality. Each fleck was an actualised potential, a creation, a moment of creativity, a decision of this and not everything.

One of these cosmic decision was to remain. Creativity flared forth in moments, and most of this again dissolved as the matter collided with its correlative anti-matter and again entered the pool of potential. But not all. A cosmic imbalance was born. The decision for this imbalance (more matter than anti-matter, something that mattered) was made. Its agency (who/what made the decision) can be mythologised as The Creator.

Was it here that the Call that is Go()ds was established, or was the call always there, always calling? I don't know. But with that decision, the call changed, for the call was able to call out to (something that) matter(ed).

Difference multiplies difference. As matter continued, it differentiated itself, first as elementary particles, then atoms, nebulous clouds, distinct galaxies, molecules, shining stars, evocative supernova, varied planets, complex organisms, inter-species dependencies, communities, societies, civilisations, everything that is now. And all of it mattered.

The tehom is neither go()ds nor evils, but is the active potentiality for both. In creation, both go()ds and evils exist. The call of Go()ds is go()ds. That is the imbalance. Yet Go()ds is also the balance that allows for matter, allows the creation to matter.

The tehom is freedom. "All creativity entails the risk that the creature will turn malignant, indeed will turn against its creator. Even our own writings, loves, technologies, might turn against our intentions." (Catherine Keller)

Creation is the cutting off of possibilities. I will create this and not that. As a painter paints a line here and not there. However, creation also always creates new possibilities - creation makes possible things that were previously impossible. And so, of these countless created possibilities, some of these will be chosen to be created, and some will forever be cut off from possibility. And some may even remain possible, sinking and rising in the tehom, waiting to crest the wave of existence, waiting to matter.

The moment defines creation. What is now is that which has just been created, and isn't merely potential.

Go()dness comes in many forms. It is one call, yet the calls are multiple. I am called to ecological awareness, to help relieve the suffering(s) of the earth. If I help the poor I am responding to (one of) the call of Go()d. If I enrich a life, I am also responding. Hopefully, in writing this, I will influence my readers toward the Go()ds, and so this creation of writing is a response to the call.

Evil is rejecting the call to Go()ds. Exploitation is evil. Abuse is evil. Rape is evil. Being rich while others aren't is evil. To decide upon inaction when sufferers cry out for you to respond to the call of Go()ds is evil. To waste (time, resources, life, possibilities for Go()ds) is evil.

There are three things.

We, the creation (1), are called to create the imbalance of Go()dness (2) from the fluid potentials of tehom (3).


Note: This was originally called "An Ontology of Three", but narrative is more accurate. It is a way to tell the story of life, not an intention to define 'the way things are'. I advocate narrative plurality.