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Some
random thought:
by
john o'keefe
I
was sitting around the other day with a group of friends trying to
figure out the possibilities of the day – and they seemed endless.
While nothing truly came to the surface, we did figure out that
in the climate of the times we could just sit and do nothing.
Therefore, our nothingness produced a “something.”
Besides, nothing is cool and cool is after all, well, cool.
In the realm of the nothing we were doing we did, or at least I
did, noticed that while we were actually doing nothing, we were actually
doing something – a situation that seemed to escape most of the others
because they were truly doing “nothing.” Nevertheless, this “nothingness” or “nothingness/somethingness”
that developed caused some interesting thoughts, random thoughts,
thoughts that seem to be not connected, but in reality are truly
connected – which brings to mind another interesting fact – if
nothingness is truly “something” then “randomness” is truly
“connected.” The only
problem with random thought is that we seldom see the connection – but
it is there. The idea that
random is not connective, to me, is silly – random is totally
connective. So you see,
random is connection, and in turn, connection is random – which is
very cool - and very chaotic.
In
our little group random ideas came to light that I do not remember
thinking before. But then
again, my mind works in synoptic random pops of chemical based on
limited brain power, so I could have thought them before – just not
recorded them in the “record section” of my brain.
I like random thought, I find comfort in the fact that want is
seen as random, and defined as random, is in fact, over time –
connective and not random at all – which again, is very cool - and
believe it or not, very worship filled, very "teachable."
For me, thinking in random thought allows me to see connections
that I would otherwise miss. For
example, have you ever purchased something on a whim – and then find
that you need what you purchased? Maybe
not that day, but say six months from that day?
The random act of the impulsive purchase was actually connected
in the long-run – dear I say it, very cool. For me,
and in my randomness, I see God working that way.
What we see, or think of, as random and non-connective happenings
are in fact connective. It
is just that we may not see the connection in the short term.
Heck, we may never see the connection on this side of eternality.
But you see, in randomness we can find “connectiveness” and
for me that is (I know) very cool.
Think
about this – it was in our sitting around doing our
“something/nothingness” that I saw a “randomness/connection”
idea come to life – causing me to wonder; are they connected?
I mean, is “nothingness and randomness” connected at some
level? I wonder.
And if they are what does that say for evangelical theology?
think of it this way. I
recently had a discussion with a person who took offence with the idea
that God created out of nothingness – for him, and his theological
base, nothingness was “evil” and God could not create out of evil.
That got me thinking. If
God always was, always was – from no point did God not exists – then
before God created God was around – right?
Therefore, before God created (there was nothingness) and God
lived in the “nothingness” – so, how can “nothingness be
evil?” I wonder.
If God takes “nothing,” and creates “something,” and the
“something” He creates is “sinful,” (for example, man!) can we
say that the “nothing” then was not sinful?
One
thing for sure, randomness is very cool stuff – and it sure can twist
a mind. Here’s a thing to
think about, was my sitting with my friends as “random” as it
seemed? Could it truly be a
connection that was missed until that moment?
But in it all, randomness is very cool, and a good point to start
a lesson.
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