The way of imagination

  I.                     Gn. 1.1—2.3: The (first) creation account A.     OBSERVATION 1.       General observations      There isn’t exactly “nothing” in the beginning.   Darkness covers the watery abyss which surrounds (?) the earth, i.e. “a formless void” (1.2). [1]   A “wind from God” swept over the face of the waters (1.2; cf. 8.1 [2] ).   Then, God begins to speak and thus to form an ordered cosmos out of the primordial chaos.   The expression “there was evening and there was morning” which is used to “wrap up” the account of each day of creation is intriguing.   God’s delight in his work of creation is evidenced by the repeated use of the word “good”. [3]   This pericope is obviously, amongst other things, a justification of Sabbath observance (2.3; cf. Ex. 20.8-11). 2.   ...

       “He always stands head and shoulders above everyone else”, I muse as I recognize the familiar fedora rising above the stream of pedestrians being funnelled into the “de l’Église” Metro station.   If Jean-Christophe was ever standing in your line of sight, it was quite easy for you to get him in your cross-hairs before this gentle giant glimpsed you.   If “Jean” had been a character in the literary Middle-earth, he would have been numbered among those Big People which residents of the Shire sought to avoid whenever possible.   Jean is one of those rare individuals who is always completely himself.   His unabashed authenticity is one of the reasons many inhabitants of our Middle-earth avoid him whenever possible.   Jean, you see, defies categorization.   He lives alone in a basement apartment, and many of the good people of the city find him rather odd.      “He’s at it again”, I say to myself as I watch Jean, ...