We begin chapter three of Mark McIntosh’s book, Mysteries of Faith, with a challenging statement: “What would you think if I told you that Christians believe God does not exist?” I was a bit startled at McIntosh’s statement for a few reasons: I suppose it’s startling to me when someone speaks for all Christianity, and to speak with such certainty about a subject that is large, complex, and mysterious…God’s creation, is a bit surprising. McIntosh goes on to develop his statement by saying that if God “existed” as other concrete realities “exist” in the world, that would imply that God was created as well. And God was not and never has been “created;” God is the eternal source of all created things. He also develops more nuanced understandings of God’s being throughout the chapter, with thoughts like, “a crucial difference between the Creator and all creatures is essence and existence: for while essence and existence are two quite different things for creatures, the very essence of God is to exist – not as something, but as the sheer loving act of existing itself.” And so, the mystery of creation is not something we might unwrap and understand in a single sentence.

McIntosh begins his development of the mystery of creation by building on his previous chapter, which discussed the Trinity of God. The loving relationship found in the very character of God is the same creative force that is behind all of creation. McIntosh writes, “it is precisely this trinitarian life that is the glorious reason why there is a universe at all rather than simply nothing…we and all things come into being as a free act of that very same love…the same Love who draws Father and Son into communion also draws them to include the creation of the universe as the very language of this divine communion.” This thought echoes many spiritual and religious thinkers throughout history – that the divine spark of God’s love and creative power can be found in each person, in each created thing in the universe, and in the order and makeup of the cosmos itself. If we think of our own personal family history and genealogy, this makes a lot of sense – created things share the DNA of that from which they were created. While this is true for every created thing, McIntosh writes that this idea is especially true for that created thing that is held so dear to God: humanity.

I appreciate the next development in McIntosh’s thinking – the intentionality of God’s creating. This stands against the thoughts of other writers, who would say that God is a creator who creates abundantly and stands back from all that has been created. Instead, McIntosh says that God creates with intention, that each created thing is done with a particular act of love, that each created thing is special and unique. I really enjoyed his example of a “blink and a wink.” He writes, “physically speaking a wink is only a blink, a twitch in the muscles around the eye. But for those who know that at a certain point in time something is meant by this particular blink, then this blink is, precisely by being a good blink, also a wink. It has meaning because it has become part of the friendly, secret language between people.” This same intentionality in the otherwise seemingly random created-ness of the cosmos, gives us a mysterious clue into the loving intentions of God. And into these loving intentions we are created, yet also find our freedom to be what the Creator has made us to be.

The last aspect of this discussion I will cover is the freedom of the created one to act. This is no small subject and many books and theories have been written about the subject. However, there is often a small wondering part of most people’s minds that ask: why doesn’t God get more involved and fix the sorrow, the violence, the poverty, etc., etc., of the world? Of this thought, McIntosh writes, “So we maneuver ourselves into an awkward theological corner: either God finally stops dithering around out there and takes charge of our mess, or else we must grimly knuckle down to righteousness and straighten ourselves out. I hope by now you will sense that this is not really how things are…such a view would be a particularly insidious kind of idolatry.” While acknowledging that such a hope rests in the desire to spare the world violence, sorrow, and a long list of other horrible acts; God creates in loving communion but also creates to give the creation freedom. This freedom is an important part of our common lives, and is a fundamental characteristic of God. McIntosh provides an insight that to have God swoop in and “fix” everything would make God the biggest, most interfering “helicopter” parent of all time, which is exactly what God is not! Additionally, he says, “To interfere with one’s freedom, the interfering one has to be another item in the universe along with me. God is no such item. The mystery of creation lets me know God as the One who is not only the sources of my existing, but who causes me to exist precisely by giving me the power to be me, the unique self that I am becoming…the real problem is not that God’s presence gets in the way of my freedom, but that my distorted understanding of myself prevents me from acting freely.” If the creature would only draw close to the Creator and obtain even a small part of the loving, encouraging promise of the Goodness of God, we would all be heading in a very promising direction! Peace be with you.