The Father
By Marc Vidito
He sat atop a lofty mountain peak overlooking a lush verdant valley. Wind blew through his thick hair and snuck through the bristles of his long beard. In the distance he heard the rush of a waterfall and further down the laughing babble of a pebbled brook. He loved the babble, the power of the waterfall, the smell of heather on the wind. He remembered the care he had taken in creating the wind, the water, the earth. He had poured some of his own life into everything he had lovingly knit together. And it was good.
But of all the things the creator had made, he most loved the creations that breathed, thought, and shared in his love. The whale was a particular joy to the creator. How it loved to leap from its watery home and suck in vast amounts of salty air! How it played with its young and taught them the joy of the current, the warmth of a close swim, side by side. It’s song! It’s song rivaled the angels! Some of the angels never ceased singing “Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh! Holy! Holy! Holy is the Lord God of hosts!” But the song of the whales! It sang these same words with such deep reverberation! How it carried in the oceans depths!
And if the whale was not enough, its cousin the dolphin- it was simply joy on earth! Like the mighty angels, the dolphin would run into the most harrowing circumstance with confidence! The dolphin spoke with a chatter that made the laughing brook seem melancholy! Yes, these things were indeed good. And the creator loved them all.
Yet, even the whale, the brooding lion and magnificent soaring Eagle could not match what the creator was about to bring into being.
“Let us make humankind in our image.”
In His own image. The Father had poured love into all of creation and all of creation in some way reflected His goodness. But this one. This one would reflect Himself. This would be His presence, His image on the earth. Like an artist signing their name to their art, humanity would be the Father’s signature on the earth.
Michael, the archangel alighted on the mountaintop and bowed to the father.
“I’ve seen it all, and it is magnificent! You have painted and molded perfection.”
“Thank you. It is Tov m’od, exceedingly beautiful and good,” the Father beamed. “But it’s just the beginning.”
“Just the beginning?” Michael inquired. “What could you possible create that could top this?”
“Potential,” the Father replied. “Opportunity.”
“I made all of this, the lily, the enigmatic jellyfish, the gentle snow leopard, because I love it all. I painted my love into existence. But this, ish and isha, male and female, will be two parts of my very image among creation. And their unity will be my very self in the world. Through them, I can continue to create and mold. I can walk with the Lion, swim with the eel, smell the flowers, eat the juicy pear. And for them, I can bring rain, sunshine, seed and harvest. And the greatest opportunity of all, we can talk, laugh, be together.”
Suddenly the hope on the Father’s countenance fell. Tears began to stream down His face.
“But there is a risk, and, potentially a great cost.”
Just then, in the middle of the plain below, in the center of a lush garden, two trees sprouted, rose, and blossomed. The fruit of one was brilliant gold, yet its flesh was plump and ripe. A scent that could only be described as eternal life wafted through the air. Next to it, a beautiful but sad tree. Its leaves shone silver, but the edges were trimmed in a black so dark that it seemed unending. The fruit, seemed to be gold, like the fruit of the first tree, but dripped with honey. From it a bittersweet scent that at once brought light to the eyes and stung the nose arose.
“Why?” Michael protested. “Why do I feel unease even looking at that tree? Why create such a thing in all this purity?”
“Because,” the Father choked out the words. “Our relationship will be no relationship at all if it is not humanity’s choice. I have created good. And my penultimate creation, Adahm, has the opportunity to choose that good. If He so chooses, I can shower down blessing after blessing. But the blessings will mean nothing if they are not desired. And desire can only come from having a choice. And if there is a choice for good, there has to be, logically, an alternate choice. You cannot choose if only one option is available. There must be two.”
“And if they choose you, you also offer them eternal life with all of the good you have to give them,” Michael said pensively, realizing the hope and blessing available.
“I love them. I offer them all that I have. But, in order for it to be chosen, in order for them to have the opportunity to come to me rather than simply being my automatons…. What kind of life would that be? A life dictated. A life without choice? It would be no life at all. It would simply be a function. No, the first blessing I could possibly give comes with the potential of great loss. There is no other way to bless them. They must be allowed to choose.”
“But, what if they choose… the alternative?”
The Father let out a long sigh, his eyes welling once again with tears. “As long as they breathe the air of this earth, I will offer the choice, though it cost me everything.
“Once they choose what is not mine to give, the world will be corrupted. They have life before them. But once they choose death, death will spread through this world like a plague. They will eat death, breathe it, drink it. It will corrupt and fester tainting all the good that I have made. If they choose the alternative and do not follow the good plans I have for them, it will overtake them and they too, being born of this world, will die with this world.
“But I have put breath in them that is not of this world. Their body comes from earth and, if they choose it, to the earth they will return. But their life, their soul, is from me. It will endure forever, as we do.
“And I will never cease pursuing them.
I will choose one who chooses me. I will meet with him and be His God. I will make a covenant with him so that the rest of the world may see him and know where to find me. I will make him a great nation on the earth so that all will hear of me and know where they may return to me. I will set symbols and practices in place that tell of my promises to them and fill them with hope. When they turn to me, I will show them redemption.
“Their choices will end in death. And so blood will be the symbol of that cost. But we will build a place, a tent, a house of meeting. They will bring the symbol of that cost to me in the place of meeting, and, if they return with a humble heart, if they choose me, then, I will forgive and offer the eternal life that was always meant to be theirs.”
“In every age, in every generation, I will pursue them. And not only the people I choose, but all who see me through them and return from north, south , east, and west. Who turn from the broken systems of humankind and follow my path.
“Then, when their hearts grow cold so that the systems lose their meaning, I myself will come. I will become flesh. I will walk among them and teach them the heart of the laws that I have given. They will know that I love them with a love that doesn’t end. That if they turn their hearts and follow after me, the life, the blessings that I have always offered can still be theirs.
“As the innocent blood of sacrifices is spilt to remind them of the cost of turning from me, I will allow my own blood to be spilt to be the reminder and the redemption once and for all. So that any who call me Lord will be saved from the degeneration and death brought on by their decision. I will become flesh so they can know me. I will become blood so that I can die.
“But no power in all creation is greater than the Creator. I will pay the price with my blood and destroy the power of death with my life.
“While the earth continues its demise, my sacrifice will set new life into motion. I will create a new heaven and a new and perfect earth. All who trust in my sacrifice and power over death and who turn back- those who choose a relationship with me, they will not die but pass from a broken world into eternal life in the world I make for them. Finally restored to the purposes and blessings I had for them at the first.
Finally, as it could have been from the beginning, they will be my people, and I will be their God.”
With that, he took a lump of earth, molded it, and breathed life into it.
“Live.”
The father looked on with love and opportunity was born.