Almost every religion out there starts with their own version of the creation story, but have you ever asked yourself why this is even important? Why does it matter how our world started, and what is our fascination with creation?
Well, to get to the root of it, we have to go all the way back to Genesis(many of you may have a non Abrahamic religion you’ve been raised with, if so, revisit your own creation story), when G-d created all of reality in six days. The length of time isn’t important here, but know that “days,” as they’re described here aren’t 24 hour days as we know them, but better translate to eons. G-d, the first thing he did was create, because G-d IS creation. You see, before this whole crazy simulation was spun up, G-d existed outside of whatever this is. He had to, since he couldn’t exist in nothingness. People often ask, if G-d made us, then who made G-d? Well, in our reality, there was no “before G-d,” since G-d is the literal manifestation of reality. G-d is creation, and we share in his power to create. We also share in his love to create(We’re using He here for simplicity, G-d certainly isn’t gendered).
When G-d says we were created in his image, he’s not talking about humans exclusively, that’s our own ego talking. When G-d is saying we were created in his image, he’s talking about everything. Life itself. You should be able to see G-d in a baby’s eyes, the mountains, and even the stars. G-d is that divine driving force that compels us to build and create. He is the inner painter in us, the song writer, the ship builder. Why do we feel so good when we plant a tree or garden? It’s because we’re creating and contributing to life, building onto what G-d left us, trying to perfect it. This is why order is so important. This is why we get a rush when we finish a puzzle, delivering a baby, or building a computer. We’re made in his image, of course we share in his passion to create, and borrow from the divine source.
Look at any kid’s toy and you’ll see somewhat of a theme. All toys simulate reality, or adulthood. Whether it’s dolls, houses, cars, guns, swords, etc, it’s child safe replicas of things adults use in our daily lives. Children, the way they play is to simulate adulthood. You see the same across the animal kingdom when animals play fight, they’re ultimately simulating adulthood in a safe way. The want to simulate reality is deeply, deeply ingrained into us and was long before we reached this stage in humanity. Humans painted themselves dancing on cave walls to tell stories of the people who came before them, and even before that they had oral traditions, retelling stories by word of mouth.
Every day our video games get more realistic, and we strive to make them so realistic that it would be hard to distinguish between reality and the game, because that would be the ultimate escapism. Now, obviously on a long enough timeline, we’ll be able to achieve this. So, who’s to say we haven’t? This could be the first iteration of Earth, or reality 1.0, but the odds of that are astronomically low. On a long enough timeline, anything that can happen, will happen, and since it will happen, in the since of eternity it has happened. Whether in the future or the past, it hardly matters because time is a construct and outside of a three dimensional space, time is meaningless. So, what if aliens are us? What if they’re a highly evolved us from the future studying their own past by simulating our present to see where it all went wrong? What if all of reality started last Thursday?
Some questions we’ll likely never answer within our lifetime, and that’s okay. The important bit here is that G-d is creation, and we share in his love and power to create. We can harness that energy through intention and use it to restore order to this world. That is our sole purpose here. This is why on the 7th day, he rested. This isn’t because G-d needs rest, he was setting an example. G-d isn’t bound to these primitive mechanical bodies like we are. We’re just fragments of his divine soul at the steering wheel. If you think of G-d as a hand, we would be the fingers and nerves. G-d cannot manifest his power without manifesting reality, and reality is G-d. G-d “does,” through us. We can work independently borrowing from his divine power to create, but when we work in unison, like fingers on a hand, we’re doing G-d’s work as G-d. When we think alone, we borrow from his consciousness to imagine, or create in our minds, but when we think as a group, we’re shaping G-d’s consciousness or dream. This is why for a lot of prayer to have impact, we pray together in focal places of power. For Christians, it’s churches, for Jews, it’s temples in what we call “minyans.”
Prayer is always more powerful in a group, because intention is divine and the base of all magic, and magic is very real. Try it for yourself. Pray towards the Sun. It may feel silly at first, but set an intention and talk to G-d. Take a walk in the forest and just let it all out. Talk about your day, sing, vent your frustrations, or even give thanks for the beauty around you. It may feel silly at first, but you’ll become more and more comfortable with it in repetition. You may also start to see your life change, maybe not in a big way at first, but you’ll start to feel a sense of well being, and trust us, you’ll start to feel like you’re actually talking to someone because well, you are. In mussar, we call this practice hitbodedut. Pick a day, any day of the week for rest. A day when you’ll free yourself of the stresses of the week past, or the week to come. A day where you’ll not think about work, and instead use that time for deep reflection, family, and expanding your mind. Giving us a day of rest was one of the first things G-d gave us, and he commanded us to use it. This is our day to recharge, to speak with him, and to realign ourselves with our goals.
Try it for a month. Get into the routine of saying no on your sabbath. Get used to this being your day of rest and stick to it. See if it has a positive impact on your life, and on your family. See what G-d can do for you if you just meet him halfway and rest, like he commanded us to do. Your spouse, your kids, your parents, they will cherish the new found time with you, and your undivided attention and focus. It makes time more meaningful when your attention isn’t divided staring at your phone, or having a 3 hour conversation with work on your day off. See if when you set your intentions and work towards that goal, see if it manifests if you focus your energy onto it. I think the results will surprise you. Just remember, we’re all fragments of creation and our independent thoughts are drops of water in the river of consciousness. With enough thoughts or intention focused one way, we can reshape how the river moves, this is what creation magic, or magic is all about.
Realize your intentions and thoughts have very real power to shape this world, and act accordingly. Clean up your thoughts, and restore order to your life so you can help restore order to the greater reality around you.
