At the first

The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, sports the largest mirror we’ve ever sent into space, spanning more than 21 feet across. Made out of gold-plated beryllium, the mirror is designed to gather infrared light — a type of light invisible to the human eye that can travel incredibly long distances across there Universe. Equipped with this impressive mirror, JWST should be able to peer into the deepest recesses of the cosmos, picking up light from the first stars and galaxies that formed just after the Big Bang.

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1 At the first of ELOHIM creating the skies and the land—2 and the land was desolation and emptiness; and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the spirit of ELOHIM was hovering over the face of the waters—3 and ELOHIM said, “Let there be light”; and it was light. 4 And ELOHIM saw the light, that it was good; and ELOHIM separated between the light and between the darkness. 5 And ELOHIM called to the light “day,” and to the darkness he called “night.” And it was evening and it was morning—day one. (Genesis 1:1-5, TEB)

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ἴδωσιν Mark 9:1 again, ὁράω, I see, perceive, realize, comprehend, understand, experience, discern, become aware.

Definition: to see, perceive, attend to

Usage: I see, look upon, experience, perceive, discern, beware. see, often with metaphorical meaning: "to see with the mind" (i.e. spiritually see), i.e. perceive (with inward spiritual perception).

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Back to The First yet one more Time again. It has happened many Times in my life, and I always love discovery, epiphany, realization that resets back to zero, my thinking, believing, faith that I take care not to mistake for knowledge (Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see). So, "back to square one" as in "go to Jail, go directly to Jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200". Being disillusioned was what I most loved about theological seminary, about EfM, and about leading, teaching, mentoring a midweek Bible study those years, and especially the adult Sunday School Bible class that I led at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Panama City, Florida for some thirteen years, from about May 2009 through May 2022. I still like it, ongoing discovery, about the digging involved in sermon prep, and I prefer giving a homily or sermon that's more teaching than preaching. For one thing, because, across Christianity enough nonsense is preached as it is.

As for competent leading, teaching, mentoring: taken responsibly, it is greatly demanding; and I found that there comes a Time when one must give it up even if the thirst for discovery is still there. So, still on the preaching schedule, but I've retired from leading Sunday School and midweek Bible Study. But I am finding as I approach my eighty-seventh birthday, that I still enjoy learning, discovering, uncovering my ignorance.

What if I were starting over from age maybe eighteen and off to college? cosmology, astronomy, meteorology, Greek, Hebrew, theology. Looking back I could say "what a waste" except that I did enjoy most of it! I think therefore I AM, and I think life is to enjoy Being, Loving, Learning, maybe Sharing.

Wandering again. Oh well, it's my blog diary journal of sorts.

Image above: first NASA release from the new space telescope peering billions of years into the past of our Universe. On the POD for Tuesday, July 12, 2022 is NASA sharing more images. An expression is "can't wait!" Why?

Because with the immensity of the Universe, and the likelihood that we are one Universe among many in a Multiverse that is beyond all that we can imagine, Creation seems as Infinite as the Mind of God - - remembering the addressed envelope Emily Webb described to George Gibbs that evening of their young life in "Our Town"

Where am I going with this?

I've always loved the KJV/RSV ex-nihilo theological translation of Genesis 1:1 that goes "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth ... " even though I found out in seminary that our English theological translation is not the best translation of what the Hebrew Scripture really means to say.

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

When God began creating the heavens and the earth ...

or, as the new, seemingly ultimate expression of what the Hebrew actually means to convey,

"At the first of Elohim creating the skies and the land - "

which is the opening of a story, as in "Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a faraway land ..." not the assertion of a theology of creation yeh-HEE as the Big Bang: "BE!" For me at least, it takes a getting used to, a letting go. What I always loved believing isn't what the story is really about.

Being willing to learn, including that I was wrong and that the Truth isn't as dramatic and romantic as I always enjoyed "knowing", is part of what St Paul means when he contrasts adult learning with those who still need milk. Or better, 1 Corinthians13:11, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Some childish things are difficult, even painful, to put away. Infantile, kindergarten Sunday School religion, "faith", certainty, certitude, is in that category.

JWST pictures are helping me see into the Mind of God differently from the heilgeschichte that I'd always understood as a theological assertion, but that was actually God, through an ancient post-exile priest, telling fallen away Israelites that their Canaanite sun, moon, and stars "deities" were nothing more than creations of Elohim, the One True God and Creator of All that Is, Seen and Unseen. In the Beginning: A story for ancient Israel rendered into English to become a theological translation affirming Christian theology of God creating everything ex-nihilo, from nothing. Again, here is more of the story:

ἴδωσιν Mark 9:1 again, ὁράω, I see, perceive, realize, comprehend, understand, experience, discern, become aware.

RSF&PTL

I'll not go back and polish this rough draft, because we have other things to do this morning! It's just for me anyway. T