In The Beginning...

She was taught that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  And He saw that it was good.”  Gen. 1:1. 

The earth was covered with water until He caused dry land and mountains to rise up.  The barren ground seemed like a blank canvas so He painted a landscape and blew life into it.  Satisfied, He rested.  Although He enjoyed watching the wind blow through the trees, He wanted to see more movement so He formed fish, flying creatures and animals.  Then God came up with a brilliant plan.  Animal life would inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.  Plant life would absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen.  A perfect balance. And He saw that it was good.

Then things got messed up.  Somehow the food chain appeared.  Life forms began to kill and eat one another.  Fear and violence were the natural by-products of this system.  Man invented war, in part, to obtain land and a steady food supply.  And man said, “The food chain is good because we’re at the top of it.”

Many years later, in a tiny corner of the Baja, an older woman battled with depression. 

Forty five years earlier, she was an innocent city girl with her head stuck firmly in the concrete sidewalks of Boston.  She’d marvel at the pretty birds and lady bugs – until she married a farm boy who (she later learned) knew how to wring a chicken’s neck and set a fish hook. 

One day she pointed to the sky and said, “Look at the beautiful raven.”  He answered, “Did you know that they rob eggs out of nests and eat them?”  Did he notice her tears?

 Years later she looked toward the Bay of La Paz, “Did you see the fish jump?”  He replied, “They’re jumping because bigger fish are attacking them.”  She felt as if he’d stuck a hook through her heart.

“Honey, the strong kill the weak.  That’s nature.  It’s been that way since the beginning of time.” 

Where once she observed beauty, she now saw violence.  Her mind understood but her more gentle nature resisted.

Then one morning her husband walked into their kitchen and saw his wife contemplating a cockroach.  He walked over and smashed it like a bug. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“He was afraid.  I could see it in his eyes.”

Her husband shook his head and suggested that she start taking Prozac again.

And so (maybe in a drug-induced state) one night she dreamed up an almost perfect solution to the violent nature of life. In her dream, time flew backwards.  Before the Irish potato famine, before Aztec human sacrifices, before the locust plague of Egypt, and even before the time God approved of Abel’s slaughtering his little lamb as a sacrifice.  Back.  Back. Back.  To immediately before the existence of insects, fish, birds or animal life.

In her dream God was a woman!  Inside Her factory prototypes of new and improved models of earthly creatures were being assembled.  Into each still-lifeless chest a tender heart was placed.  When the switch of life was flipped, compassion flowed along with oxygen-rich blood.  A deluxe-model brain with the ability (and the will) to solve problems in a peaceful manner was inserted into the head.  And a new super-size sophisticated respiratory system was placed in the body.  What was missing was – the entire digestive system. From the simplest to the most highly developed creature, life would rely on oxygen for nutrition.

She interrupted her own dream to protest, “But I love to eat.  What about going out to restaurants with friends?”

“Simple”, her kinder self replied. “Visualize joining friends for a private French feast.  You’re in the Baja but the restaurant resembles a countryside chateau.  You sit on tastefully decorated sofas.  The waiter takes your order and the French doors close. You notice the aroma of fresh wildflowers, ripe grapes and a hint of sun-kissed clover.  You close your eyes, relax and breathe deeply.  Conversation is rich and satisfying. At the end of the evening, you pay the check.  Prices depend on the quantity and quality of French air inhaled. 

“Think of it”, her creative side said.  “There could be All-You-Can-Breathe buffets.  Pick a country.  Located at each chair is a machine that looks like an i-Pod.  Dial the air you want to breathe.  At your side are tiny oxygen-carrying nozzles.   You want Maui beach air?  Select #7.  Your husband wants the Alps with a side of Chinese?  Easy – that’s #12 and #37.”

In her dream she designed the typical home.  Family room, bedrooms and the rooms used for cleansing the body (the bath room).  No kitchen.  No greasy stove.  No dining room. No smelly toilets.   Large windows to let in air.  Pollution a problem?  Although air purifiers do the trick, the environment is protected as if lives depend on it because – because they do. 

Picture it:  tiny grocery stores…just cleaning supplies and air filters.  When you walk your dog there’s no poop to pick up.  No cat litter.  Cats don’t kill birds.  Birds don’t hunt worms.  No slaughterhouses or cruel livestock industry.  The entire food chain collapses.

Although old age and accidents keep the population under control, obesity and digestive-based diseases evaporate into thin air.  

In her dream world “the lion lays down with the lamb and a little child leads them”.  But instead of the boy eating a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch, together they breathe the same air of peace.

She awoke with a smile on her face.  But questions slowly brought her back to reality. Would huge noses and giant chests become fashionable?  How about teeth?  Do they serve any purpose other than chewing?  Flossing is a bore but being toothless isn’t a very attractive alternative. The questions continued.  Maybe the answers will appear in her dreams.  Perhaps tonight.