ABRAM
Hebrew scripture presents a picture of genealogical continuity from our
mythic first parents to the arrival of Abram.
Doing so affords the prophetic promise of paradise regained a traceable
linear path from prehistory to history, from a mythic past to an identifiable
present. With Abram, Hebrew scriptures
enters into an identifiable and verifiable present. We are presented geographical data that has
its own history: Ur of the Chaldees
located in southern Iraq and the city of Haran near Turkey's southern border
with Syria.
My intent in these posts on the mystic journey is
not to review every aspect of a particular mystic's life as recorded in
scripture, but rather to highlight certain events or experiences that reflect
that nature of mysticism. If unfamiliar
with the story of any of the people I write about, I will cite the place in
scripture where their story is found. In
the case of Abraham, his story is found in Genesis 11 through Genesis 25.
What must be kept in mind is that any discussion of
scriptural mysticism is, like most of scripture, unable to be treated as
history even when it references history. While there is a likely oral tradition upon
which these accounts are based, there is a stronger likelihood
that they were written with a theological agenda in mind. In other words there is no way of knowing
whether the experiences that the patriarchs, like Abraham, actually occurred or
what, if any, actual experiences they might have had.
What I find relevant in a discussion of the mystical
journey in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures is that the authors of these
writings deliberately or intuitively included mystical experiences which can help one understand mysticism as a whole .
SPEAKING OF GOD SPEAKING
What is given as motivation for Abram to complete to
go to Canaan is God telling him that
once there, God will make of him a great nation by which all the families of
the earth will be blessed. He is also told he will have God's protection; that those who bless
him will be blessed and those who curse him will be cursed.
We are not told in what manner God spoke to Abram;
if this was the first time God spoke to him directly. We have no idea what is meant by God
speaking. Did Abram hear a voice? Was
the message delivered in a dream?
When God speaks or appears to Abraham, the
scriptures treat those experiences as real time events. What I would add is that while these are
events that to the mystic would feel in every sense real, the notion of time
frequently is missing (as if it gets lost); that there is an other worldliness
to these experiences that defies rational explanation in terms of our shared,
common world.
What is crucial to remember when discussing the
mystic journey as described in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures is the
promise of paradise restored as mentioned in my last post. The journey, in many ways, is connected first
to the notion of a promised land and later to a promised messiah. By the time Genesis is being written, both
notions are well established in the minds of its writers and readers.
The journey that Abraham and Sarah undertake is
about the transformation of identity, from being a Chaldean to the founder of a
Hebrew nation. There is great paradox in
the story of Abraham and Sarah.
According to Genesis, they reach what will become the geographic
Promised Land in short order, but its not technically theirs during their
lifetime nor during the life time of their progeny. It doesn't take shape until long after the
Exodus event, which will be the subject of a future post. Even then, it's
existence proves tentative.
The entire nomadic journey of Abraham and Sarah can be cast
in mystical terms, but there are four events that I feel can give us a feel for
their mystical experience. The first is
the covenant story that is actually played out in two events.
IN GOD'S GOOD
TIME
With regard to Abraham, in particular, we are constantly being informed of his age. I find this significant and unique to Abraham's journey, which he doesn't start until he is a childless seventy-five year-old. It is at an age in which most people experiencing hearing voices and seeing visions would be suspected of being on the verge of dementia, especially, if pulling up stakes and starting a whole new life in a distant land.
What is unique about Abraham is that, as Abram, he
doesn't question God's promise, but he begins to wonder how he will ever have
descendants. He rationalizes that his
slave/servant, Eliezer will end up being his heir and descendant; as slaves
often became close and viewed their masters as their parents and masters
viewing favored slaves as family. This possibility
saddens him as "reality" sets in and he sees no possible way for him and Sarai
to have children of their own. It is at such a moment that he has a vision in
which God tells him he will have a son coming from his own body.
THE FATHER OF FAITH
Abraham does not question or argue this and as a
result he is credited with being righteous in God's sight, but then comes the
thought about the land he was promised - the ability to be the father of
civilized nation. While these may seem
like questions, Abram does not doubt God, but rather is doubting his
ability. Abram is feeling his age and
is thinking of his role in seeing God's promise come to fruition. In language reminiscent of the Exodus, God
says that he called Abraham from the land of Ur of the Chaldeans to be in the
Promised Land. This is about God-time,
not human-time.
So that Abram "knows" that God will
fulfill God's promises, God requires that Abram perform a ritual sacrifice of a
heifer, a goat, and ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young
pigeon. Abram divides each of the
mammals in two placing their pieces opposite each other, but he does not divide
the birds. There is no direct explanation as to the meaning of this sacrifice,
but it appears to have a numerological significance with regard to the age of the mammals,
their being divided and the two birds.
I won't speculate about those meanings here, but
rather to say that the whole experience of the sacrifice and the vision seem to
be one experience; that the lines between the mundane and mystical experience
are blurred. That Abram actually sacrificed the animals and chased away the
carrion birds seems plausible, but there is an other worldliness to the whole
experience that says otherwise; that it is part of a greater vision. Abram falling asleep as the sun sets is
significant because he enters into the realm of darkness that is described as "a thick dreadful
darkness" coming over him.
This is
a feeling that is recognizable as a hallmark of the mystical experience. It is when the sun sets and Abraham is in the
physical darkness of the planet that he see a vision of a smoking fire pot and
blazing torch pass between the pieces of the his sacrifice with God informing
him of the proximity of the land that his descendants will have. In this state, God prophesies to Abram so
that Abram will know.
What about this extremely mysterious course of
events give Abram a sense of knowing?
What has he learned? What does he
know? There is no explanation given as
to what these visions mean.
What I believe the writers of Genesis capture in
their telling of this account is something indicative of the mystic
experience. While they set the stage for
the yet-to-be telling of the Exodus story (God's informing Abram of the fate of
his yet-to-be progeny), Abram is depicted as having a full sensory experience
that leaves an indelible psychic mark on him which confirms his sense of
knowing without explanation. This is the
birth of faith.
That is part one of the covenant story. The second part occurs after Sarai gives
Hagar to Abram to bear him a son of his own body, which she does. The problem is that Hagar's relationship to
Abram is that of his wife's slave and even though she bears him Ishmael, there
is a sense that Ishmael is not a legitimate heir that a son born of Sarai would
be, an heir produced by love, not command.
A LIFE PUT ON PAUSE
Abram is eighty-six years old when Ishmael is born
and it is thirteen years after this that the second part of the covenant story
unfolds when Sarai is 90. During vision,
God says that he will keep his promise of a legitimate heir and as a sign of
their mutual covenant, Abram and every male in his household will undergo
circumcision.
Then God changes the name of Abram to Abraham and
Sarai to Sarah to signify their chosen identity by God. In essence they are
permanently transfigured into the bearers of a chosen people. God tells Abraham that Sarah will bear him a
son, which makes Abraham laugh because Sarah is ninety years old by that
time. Abraham is too old to laugh at God
out of mockery, but rather to laugh at the timing of all of this - as if the
whole of his life to this point was nothing more than a waiting period - a life
put on pause until this moment. We also
see Abraham's great affection for Ishmael, in his desire that he would be his heir. Interestingly, God
acknowledges this with a "Yes" on God's part but makes it clear that
Sarah will bear him a legitimate heir.
Speaking of transfiguration, the story of the three
visitors to Abraham's tent (Genesis 18) is a prototype to the story of the
Transfiguration in the New Testament synoptic gospels. This is one of most unique visionary moments
in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
It is not presented as a vision, but its feel is visionary and it is
reported as a shared experience by both Abraham and Sarah. Visions have a reality about them that cannot
be explained in rational terms.[1] Abraham sees three men approach his tent and
he immediately perceives "them" as God. He addresses them in the singular and is
responded by "them" in unison.
Abraham's reaction is to invite them in (much like
Peter's wanting to build three tabernacles).
He orders a feast. After they had eaten the three ask in unison where
Sarah is and Abraham says the tent. then "one" of them said he will
return to visit her when the time right and she will have a son. Sarah listening to all of this laughed and
the One asked why she laughed and Sarah
denied that she did, but the One said, "Yes, you did." What is significant is that God in this little aside to the story is that God does not react to her lying about laughing. God is not capricious, but rather possesses a determined will.
Then the One informs Abraham about the One's
intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
In this account we see Abraham take on the prophetic mantel by appealing
for justice. In essence he becomes an
advocate for the righteous. He appeals
to the One - to God - to spare these cities if there fifty righteous and then
whittles the number down to ten. To which the One replies that he will and then
this vision comes to an end.
One could spend a great deal of time on this one
experience of Abraham and Sarah. It
serves as a prototype for the Christian story of Transfiguration and the
Annunciation of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Luke. It is not coincidental that Luke, a disciple
of Paul, casts these two events, the birth and transfiguration of Jesus, in terms that
resonate with this story. Paul
constantly refers to Abraham in his letters and demonstrates shared a mystic bond
with Abraham. As tempting as it is
to get into the theological meanings of that, I won't except to say that I have
always found it odd that most Christian theologians have missed or ignored
the obvious parallels between this story and the Transfiguration of Jesus.
SACRIFICE AND HOPE
One of the most poignant and hard to fathom stories in
the Bible is the near sacrifice of Isaac.
Abraham is very old and Isaac is a young child who is able to walk and
talk. Genesis twenty-two says that God
tested Abraham by commanding that he sacrifice Isaac to him as a burnt
offering. The thought of this to the
modern ear is horrific to say the least.
Yet, child sacrifice, in ancient times was viewed as reminder
that humans were part of a greater food chain - that human survival was dependent on forces that cannot be seen but which must be sated from time to
time. Abraham comes from a culture where
such extreme measures would have been accepted as a given.
That God would demand Abraham to sacrifice his only
legitimate heir after waiting a lifetime strikes us as
unspeakably cruel even when we know how the story ends. From a mystic point of view there is a side
to this story that is frequently overlooked.
Life can be unspeakably cruel at times and
God is in those moments, just like he was with Abraham. Genesis call this a test, but we need to be cautious that we do not
interpret "test" as a moral examination, but rather to be better
understood as an exercise of faith.
I'm prone to think of the near sacrifice of Isaac
more in terms of a rabbinical/priestly story than a retelling of an actual
mystical event. Originally, I was not
going to include a discussion of it in this post, but I changed my mind; in
that, this story fosters an important attribute of the mystical journey.
Although Christian theology treats this story as
forerunner to Jesus being sacrificed for the sins of the world on the cross and teaches this is the reason
why God delays "his hunger for human blood" to satiate "his" needs by the death of his "only-begotten" son. I find such a connection simply erroneous.
If anything related to human sacrifice is to be derived from this story it is simply the God has no appetite for it.
Rather, this story is about the sacrificial nature of life and the mystical role of hope that is played out in it.
A unique feature of this story is that God is
telling it (not literally, but rather literarily). It is God who confirms that Abraham loves
Isaac, his only son. To make this a
poignant story, we are informed that Isaac is at an age where he understands
what a sacrifice is and what it involves.
The question young child Isaac asks his father is the same type of
question any four, five, or six-year old might ask. It tears at one's heart to hear him ask it, and
writers of Genesis do this to perfect effect. What is equally heart-rending is Abraham's
knowing response, "God will provide the lamb," by which we led to believe
he means Isaac, and yet there is an intuitive side to his statement that is played out in this
story.
Abraham's faith is far from questioning God at any
level; especially at this late stage of his life. He knows beyond explanation that
God's word is solid. As he is
about to sacrifice Isaac, God's angel stops him and a ram is found caught in a
thicket, which is offered in Isaac's stead. Abraham call the place, "God will provide."
Life, itself, is a journey into sacrifice where we
are required and many times are forced to give up things we do not want to give
up. Such events are transfiguring. Even
when we can see no way out, there is hope caught in the thicket of the event
regardless of its outcome. Abraham not
only lived by faith, he also dwelled in hope - "God will provide the
lamb." Abraham's intuitive hope sprang from a deeper, truer place than what our human senses can provide.
* * * * * * * * * *
In Christian mysticism, as I suspect is true of Jewish and Islamic mysticism, the mystic tale of Abraham is essential in understanding the mystic journey we are all engaged in. The apostle Paul constantly references Abraham's faith throughout his letters and makes the point that three affectual elements are required for making this mystic journey, and they are specifically found here, faith, hope, and love.
Love is implicitly involved throughout these stories of the mystic journey that leads us to paradise regained. Like Abraham we may not see the full outcome of the promise that is implicit in every being. The journey involves faith as knowing without explanation and a willingness to let go in order to dwell in hope.
Until next time, stay faithful
[1] Mysticism
can be considered irrational when defined in the sense that the early twentieth
century psychiatrist, Otto Rank viewed irrationality as possessing deep
intuitive meaning that also finds expression in the arts and music. Mystical irrationality is paradoxical in
that the mystic understands the irrational aspect of the experience and is
eventually able to express it in rational (frequently metaphorical) terms.
