Against Nothingness

Silence.  I think of the servant watching Rebekah intently, waiting to see if his mission is a success.  I think of the darkness of the ninth plague; I wonder if there was silence. I think of the Canaanite woman crying for help and Jesus not saying a word.  I think of the disciples in the storm as they find that Jesus is asleep. Were they speechless? I think of Jesus in the Garden, his friends all asleep, his prayers rising as his sweat falls.  Or the three hours of darkness while Jesus hung on the cross. Was there silence then? I think of the silences I have experienced.  The brief pause, the in-drawn breathe, that stretches into an imaginary eternity, when I asked the woman I love to marry me and she had yet to answer.  That moment of silence before our baby cried for the first time.  The first rays of sun hitting the side of the mountain, when I realized I couldn't hear the highway anymore. The pause in the wind...

Jorge Luis Borges, A Universal History of Iniquity . Penguin Classics, 2004. Translator: Andrew Hurley.  A long time ago a good friend of mine recommend Borges to me. At the time I read Fictions and quite enjoyed his short stories. I remember them being strange, thought-provoking, and genre bending. Somehow I never gave Borges another thought. Never, that is, until I came across this book and, stirred by the distant association of the name "Borges" with enjoyable reading, started reading. I was not disappointed.  This is Borges first book and it is a kind of non-fiction. I am fairly certain the stories are embellished, but this only makes them better. What you have here are short stories from the old west, medieval Islam, ancient Asia, and more, each focused on the highly colorful life of one individual. These stories are crafted with genius and very enjoyable to read.  Borges is a master writer. I regularly sat back from reading this book just to marvel...

Blessed is the man  who does not walk  in the counsel of the wicked  or stand in the way  of sinners  or sit  in the seat of mockers. Blessed is the man. I want to be blessed. I know that true blessing does not come in the abundance of our possessions but in the abundance of our God. And so it almost goes without saying that this rules out walking in the counsel of the wicked, standing in the way of sinners, or sitting in the seat of mockers.  I find the progression instructive. From walking, to standing, sitting. From being a person who is walking with God, moving forward in the mission and calling God has given to a person who is sitting on the sidelines, mocking those who try. From taking the advice of the wicked to actively hindering those who attempt to do better.  I also find this progression harrowing. It is the picture of deep and disturbing transformation which I have seen in others and see the potential for in myself.  But his delig...