Genesis Rewritten

An essay by - Heather Spoonheim

The book of Genesis paints a picture of a deity that is trivial when compared to the cosmos as we understand it today. If the hand that wrote Genesis had been divinely moved, it would have painted a picture of a deity that made the cosmos look trivial by comparison. Although the author of Genesis couldn’t possibly have comprehended even our knowledge of the cosmos, divine intervention would most certainly have found a way to use ancient language to paint that picture. That being said, here is my imagination of Genesis as it would have been written, and then translated into English, had there been divine guidance.

The Book Of Genesis

All the ages of man are but a moment in the Heavens, and all the ages of the Heavens are but a moment in the Lord. For the Lord hath known countless ages before the Heavens and shall know countless ages after the Heavens, for the ages of the Lord are without number; and all the ages before the Heavens, and all the ages after the Heavens, shall never be known to any man living under the Heavens.

And so it came to pass, after imaginations that can be neither measured nor numbered, that the Lord did imagine the Heavens. And in that thought the Lord numbered the Heavens, so that there might be numbers, and hurled the Heavens outward from his mind in only three directions, so that there might be only three directions, and set measure to these directions, so that there might be a space in which the Heavens might exist. All these things did the Lord do in one thought.

And in the same thought that the Lord did imagine the Heavens, he did imagine and set within them the path of life, so that from the path of life the Lord might perceive the Heavens with wonder. For so it is that the mind of the Lord is without wonder, for all is known in the mind of the Lord. And so it was that the path of life was set in the Heavens so that the Lord might perceive the wonder of the Heavens from within the bounds of the Heavens, for only from within the bounds of the Heavens may they be perceived in wonder. And so it was that the path of life was set forth in the same thought.

And the Earth is but one number in the numbers of the Heavens that the Lord did create. And it came to pass that the path of life crossed the Earth, and the Earth did burst forth with life. And life did flourish on the Earth, and from life did come the first spark of thought. But a spark of thought cannot contain the wonder of the Heavens for the Heavens are a wonder created by the Lord. And so it is that an animal, with a spark of thought, might wonder at that which is under the Heavens yet never know the wonder of the Heavens which the Lord did create.

And so, just as the Lord had imagined the path of life, the path of life imagined man. And man had more than a spark of thought and he did look up into the Heavens. And the thoughts of man were filled with a spark of wonder and the Lord was pleased to know this wonder. And this wonder filled man’s heart with joy as he basked in the glory of the Heavens that the Lord had created. The Lord, being pleased by man’s wonder and joy, set forth a covenant with man that he might know such wonder and joy for all the ages of man.

For a spark of wonder at the Heavens which the Lord did create fills the heart with joy, but fanning the flames of thought can consume that joy. Thus the Lord spake to the heart of man, saying, “This wonder is your gift to me and this joy is my gift to you, do not fan the flames of your thoughts lest they become an inferno that consumes these perfect gifts.” And so the Lord set forth a covenant with man that man might bask in wonder and joy for all his ages.

And so it was that the thoughts of man burned gently and were filled by a spark of wonder that filled his heart with joy. But man began to fan the flames of thought so that he might ignite his spark of wonder and the Lord did not stop him: for to do so would unset the path of life which the Lord had set within the Heavens. And so it was that man’s will was his own and his will was to fan the flames of his thought so that he might ignite the spark of his wonder.

And man’s thoughts became an inferno that consumed the joy in his heart. For as the thoughts of man became an inferno, man ceased being man and became men, each one knowing his days were numbered. And so the covenant that the Lord had set forth with man was broken by man. And so it came to pass that the thoughts of men are an inferno that consumes their joy because each one knows his days to be numbered. And so it is that the first flames of thought ignite a spark of wonder in a child that fills the child’s heart with a joy that can only radiate from the eyes of a child.

And so men began to flee the inferno of their thoughts so that they might escape the sorrow of knowing that their days were numbered. And as the men fled their thoughts they began to extinguish their spark of wonder. But without the spark of wonder their can be no joy. The Lord was pleased by the spark of wonder in men so he revealed another path to escape the heat of the inferno that burned in their thoughts. Thus, the Lord spake to the hearts of men saying, “Do not flee the inferno of your thoughts for you can temper the inferno with knowledge.”

And thus the Lord set forth a covenant with men. And so it was revealed that the inferno that burns in the thoughts of men can be tempered with knowledge. And so it was that thoughts tempered by knowledge did not become an inferno that consumed all joy. And so it came to pass that the warm fire of thoughts that were tempered by knowledge set wonder ablaze. Thusly, the Lord came to experience the blazing wonder of men who tempered there thoughts with knowledge, and it well pleased him.

Although the days of men are numbered, those men who temper their thoughts with knowledge are set ablaze with wonder and are remembered by the Lord, for the Lord set the path of life within the Heavens to experience the wonder of that which he created. Those who flee the inferno of their thoughts extinguish their wonder, never fill their hearts with joy, and are simply forgotten by the Lord. To be remembered by the Lord is to live for all eternity. To be forgotten by the Lord is to live just a number of days in all the ages of man, which are but a moment in all the ages of the Heavens, which are but a moment in the Lord, whose ages are without number.